Hamas denies Shalit's profile will be delivered to a third party

Sunday September 07, 2008 14:30 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Islamist Hamas party in Gaza denied media reports that the profile of captured Israeli soldier, Gil'ad Shalit will be delivered to a third party, presumably Arab or foreign.

Captured soldier, Shalit, his father behind

Ismail Redwan of Hamas confirmed that his group is not in a hurry for sorting out the Shalit case, as the whole issue is still being worked out by Hamas and Egypt.

Redwan added that Hamas does not want to reach an agreement on the issue of Shalit, unless Israel reopens the border crossings and lift the siege of Gaza completely.

With respect to underway dialogue among Palestinian factions in Cairo, the Hamas leader maintained that Egypt's role to bridge the gap between Palestinians will achieve the national unity and the recognition of all legitimacies.

Redwan explained that the Egypt’s invitation to the Palestinian factions for dialogue is meant to explore new horizons for discussion, in the hope of ensuring a balanced vision that all parties are satisfied with.

Talks over captured Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit have been stalled for the past several months, as Israel refuses a list of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas demands as requirement for Shalit to be freed in prisoners swap.

Hamas and two other groups captured corporal Shalit in a cross-border resistance attack in southern Gaza in June 2006, immediately after Israeli soldiers nabbed two residents from the southern border town of Rafah.

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report rami at imemc dot org