The government official in charge of talks for the release of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit told Haaretz on Tuesday that there had been no final agreement with Hamas to free Shalit, although a deal in principle had been reached before Hamas' takeover of Gaza.

Dekel, whom Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made responsible for negotiating for the release of IDF soldiers held by Hamas and Hezbollah, said he wanted to respond to what he called Hamas' attempts to conduct psychological warfare and emotional manipulation of the Israeli public through the interviews its officials have given to the Israeli media.

"Three-and-a-half months ago, the agreement in principle was made, through Egyptian mediation, to release 450 Palestinian prisoners in two stages," Dekel told Haaretz Tuesday. At the first stage, 350 prisoners were to have been released, and Shalit was to have been transfered to Egyptian custody. Dekel said no agreement was made as to how long Shalit would remain in Egyptian custody, but at the second stage, to have been carried out no later than a week after the first stage, Israel agreed to release another 100 prisoners. However, even though the outline of an agreement existed, there were large gaps between the two sides.