Shalit family hopes Carter will bring sign of life from Gilad

Noam Shalit, the father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, said yesterday that he hoped former U.S. president Jimmy Carter would be able to get a letter to his son and confirm delivery as early as this week.

Speaking to Haaretz yesterday, he added that Carter had not promised him anything in their meeting on Friday.

Shalit said he had heard nothing new from Carter despite the latter's meeting with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal in Damascus on Thursday.

The Shalit family has not had a sign of life from Gilad in a year, and the family and the organization working for his release said they hope Carter would deliver the letter during his visit to Gaza Tuesday, and that a response from Gilad would arrive as soon as possible.

The last letter the Shalits received from their son, a year ago, was faxed to the offices of Carter's organization in Ramallah.

When Noam Shalit was asked whether he expected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to mention his son's kidnapping in his speech tonight at Bar-Ilan University, he said: "After three years, I'm not waiting for speeches, I'm waiting for action."