Hope grows of ME prisoner swap deal

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa (R) gestures during a meeting with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana (L) in Cairo yesterday. Solana arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the final leg of a Middle East tour aimed at reviving stalled peace talks. PHOTO: AFP

Several key Palestinian players have held recent consultations in Egypt, which has acted as the main mediator since the crisis sparked by the June 25 capture in the Gaza Strip of Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit, but disagreements still exist over what or who is preventing the deal from moving forward.

"We are close to a deal but it is tied to an Israeli response," Osama Hamdan, a senior official from the governing Palestinian movement Hamas, told AFP by telephone from Lebanon.

"There is a big Egyptian effort aimed at reaching a deal, with some conditions," he said. "There have been positive signs from the Israelis but no definite response".

"If they agree to our conditions, we will have a deal. If not, we are back to square one," he said.

Hamas has demanded the release of some 1,000 Palestinians held in Israel in exchange for Shalit, whose capture sparked a prolonged Israeli offensive in Gaza where more than 250 Palestinians have since been killed.

But a senior Palestinian official said that the finalisation of the swap was in fact pending a response from Hamas.

According to the official who wished to remain anonymous, the deal as it stands would see 500 Palestinian prisoners released once Shalit was handed to the Egyptians, followed by the release of another 500 once he was in Israel.