Captors reportedly step back from Shalit deal

RAMALLAH - Negotiations on the release of Gilad Shalit the Israeli soldier held by Hamas since his abduction on June 25 last year, have hit a bump and are now back at the starting point, Palestinian sources said yesterday.

These statements contradict the declarations of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who said last week that he and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed on the outline of the deal for Shalit's release.

All that remained, sources quoted him as saying, was to "conclude the final details."

But Palestinian sources told Haaretz yesterday that a group of high-ranking officials in Hamas' military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, which is headed by Ahmed Jabri, have thwarted the deal.


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Negotiations on the release of Gilad Shalit the Israeli soldier held by Hamas since his abduction on June 25 last year, have hit a bump and are now back at the starting point, Palestinian sources said yesterday.

These statements contradict the declarations of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who said last week that he and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed on the outline of the deal for Shalit's release.

All that remained, sources quoted him as saying, was to 'conclude the final details.'


But Palestinian sources told Haaretz yesterday that a group of high-ranking officials in Hamas' military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, which is headed by Ahmed Jabri, have thwarted the deal.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/843938.html