Hamas man denies saying jailed leaders handling Shalit swap

Hamas parliament member Ayman Darama denied Friday that he said Hamas has authorized members of its military wing held in Israeli jails to conduct negotiations with Israel for the release of captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel Radio reported.

"I have no connection whatsover to the Hamas leadership in jail or to the Hamas leadership in Gaza or to the Hamas military wing," Darama told Israel Radio, according to the interviewer. "I don't have the faintest idea about this matter, about anything connected to Gilad Shalit."

Dubai newspaper Al Khaleej quoted Darama on Friday as saying the jailed Hamas leaders would determine the criteria for which Hamas prisoners they will demand to be released in a prisoner swap. He said the leaders have already met several times with Israeli officials.

However, Darama later told Israel Radio that he had been interviewed by a foreign journalist and that the report was apparently due to a mistake in translation. He said he had told the reporter only that Israeli and Arabic-language media had previously reported the meetings.

Last week, Haaretz reported that Ofer Dekel, the Israeli government official responsible for captive and missing Israelis, met with senior Hamas leaders at Hadarim prison in the Sharon. The Hamas officials imprisoned are among those whose release the organization has demanded as part of a prisoner exchange. Palestinian sources said the meeting with Hamas officials was Dekel's second in two weeks.

The deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Web site that only Cairo was authorized to negotiate a deal and that no other negotiations were taking place, Israel Radio reported Friday.

Shalit was abducted by Palestinian militants near the Gaza border on June 25, 2006.