Egypt no longer involved with Shalit’s case

Saturday September 06, 2008 17:23 by George Rishmawi

The case of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is no longer being handled by the Egyptian mediators, said Khaled Abdul Majeed, secretary General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front.

He added that Norway and Switzerland are now following up talks over Shalit’s case instead of Egypt, which failed to reach an agreement between Shalit’s captives and Israel.

Abdul Majeed, who is based in Damascus, said that the reason behind the deterioration between Egypt and Hamas movement is that Egypt functions according to “American instructions,” which according to him is a big concern for Hamas.

He said “There is a feeling among Hamas leaders that Egypt is pressuring Hamas only, and it is believed that the internal dialogue being held in Egypt between Hamas and Fatah will not be fruitful because of the bias of the mediators in favor of the Palestinian Authority (Fatah).”

Shalit has been captured in Gaza Strip since June 2006 after Israel assassinated three of Hamas leaders in the Strip. He was captured in a military operation on a military base in Karm Abu Salem in the southern Gaza Strip.

His captives have presented more evidence that Shalit is still alive and they demand that Israeli release Palestinian prisoners for them to release Shalit. His father No’am Shalit accused the State of Israel of jeopardizing his son’s life by not being willing to reach an agreement with the resistance groups who hold Shalit.

gaza strip | diplomacy | news report george at imemc dot org