Israeli and Hamas holding indirect talks in Paris

Saturday February 21, 2009 11:28 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli sources reported Thursday that the real indirect prisoner-swap talks between Hamas and Israel are being held in the French Capital, Paris, and not in Egypt. The Israeli side is represented by Ofar Dekel, Israel’s Prime Minister Envoy, who ran indirect German-mediated talks with Hizbullah, while France is running Qatari-mediated talks with Hamas.

Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported Friday that Qatar promised the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to put pressure on Hamas in order to lower its demands.

Haaretz added that Qatar previously mediated in the case of the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, and received from France a letter that was written by the parents of Shalit; Qatar handed the letter to Hamas.

Two days ago, Dekel returned from France after conducting a trip that included detailed talks on Shalit and the prisoner swap deal. The Middle East online daily (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat) reported that Dekel presented an Israeli proposal for running a marathon with Hamas via a third party.

Israeli political sources reported that Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, informed French officials that Likud party head, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was officially asked to form the new Israeli government, showed approval for implementing a prisoner-swap deal with Hamas.

Netanyahu said that he would approve the release of 1,100 Palestinian detainees in exchange for the release of Shalit, but also stated that he would approve this deal if it happens while Olmert is still in power, and added that he cannot guarantee continued swap deal talks after he takes office.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Olmert stated that the last days in office are considered a last chance regarding a prisoner-swap deal.

Several foreign media agencies said that Olmert removed General Amos Gilad, head of Israeli Defense Ministry's Diplomatic Security Bureau, from leading the talks “due to his shortcomings”; while sources close to Olmert said that he would not fire Gilad as he will be leaving office anyway in the coming period.

Israel is holding approximately 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners in its prisons and detention centers, among them at least 64 who were kidnapped by the Israeli Army more than twenty years ago. Hundreds of women and children are also detained by Israel and are subjected to harsh treatment and abuse.

Mousa: Israel's insistence to link Shalit to truce fuels tension

[ 20/02/2009 - 11:41 AM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)--

The secretary-general of the Arab League Amre Mousa has criticized Thursday the statements uttered by Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu that he won't be bound by any agreement made by the former Israeli government in the event he formed the new government, adding that the Israeli insistence on linking the file of the truce to the file of the captured Israeli soldier would fuel tension in the region.

"If these are the statements of the Israeli leaders, then I believe that there was no need to hold meetings with them in the future, especially that there were international proposals to hold more conferences regarding a political settlement in the region", Mousa said in press conference he held in Cairo.

He, however, pointed out that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative that crystallizes Arabs' vision for peaceful solution to the struggle in the Middle East was still valid, but for sure, he added, it won't stay on the table forever, adding that the value of the initiative would be discussed during the Arab foreign ministers' meeting early next month.

He also deplored Israel's insistence to link the file of its captured soldier Gilad Shalit who has been in Palestinian captivity for three years to the obligations of the truce, stressing that such position unveils Israel's desire to keep tension running in the region despite the great efforts [exerted by Egypt] to contain it.

In a related matter, Hamas political leader MP Ismael Al-Ashkar described the Israeli insistence to mix the two files as "slap" to the Egyptians who sponsor both files as well as the inter-Palestinian national dialogue.

In a statement he issued in Gaza Thursday, Ashkar said that the Israeli undermining of the Egyptian efforts should prompt Egypt to take the initiative to open the vital Rafah crossing point, and to all basic needs into the Strip, adding that commissioning Netanyahu to form the new government doesn’t send good omens in the political horizon.

He said that the Israeli disavowal of the truce agreement meant to put more conditions on Hamas, adding that the Israeli reneging on the agreement was per se an obvious disrespect to Egypt, explaining that the outcomes of the Israeli elections pushed the Israelis to more extremism and aggression.

But he underlined that the Israeli rejection of the truce would bring back the Palestinian resistance to "square one" that is the resistance, which is the only language that Israelis understand, he said, adding that if the truce doesn’t fulfill the national interests of our Palestinian people, then the Palestinian resistance will reject the truce as it did before.