Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Hamas knocks back deal on Shalit

Shalit

John Lyons, Middle East correspondent March 18

NEGOTIATIONS to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit collapsed last night with Israel branding Hamas "hardcore terrorists" who had backtracked on agreements already made during the talks.

Despite near fever-pitch excitement in Israel about the 22-year-old's imminent release, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert personally informed Sergeant Shalit's parents that intensive talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas had failed to secure the release of their son.

The spokesman for Mr Olmert, Mark Regev, confirmed to The Australian that the talks had failed, saying: "We have seen a hardening of the position of Hamas -- we saw Hamas backtrack on what we thought had been achieved.

"As a result our young serviceman who has been held for close to three years, we haven't got him out yet.

"Obviously this is not the result we wanted but we are dealing with people who are hardcore terrorists."

Sergeant Shalit was captured on June 25, 2006, in a clash on the Israel-Gaza border between Israeli Defence Forces soldiers and Hamas. He has been held in a secret location believed to be in the Gaza Strip.

Mr Olmert, due to hand over to incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as early as this week, was keen to secure Sergeant Shalit's release before he left office as the soldier had been captured during his term.

Mr Olmert sent to Egypt two of the country's most senior officials -- chief of Israel's intelligence agency Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, and chief prisoner negotiator Ofer Dekel -- to finalise negotiations. On Sunday, Mr Olmert asked the two officials to remain in Cairo as it became clear that negotiations were in their final stage.

It is believed that Mr Diskin had got to the point where he was going through the list of prisoners Hamas wanted released and either agreeing or not agreeing.

Interest in the Shalit issue heightened a week ago when his parents, Noam and Aviva, moved into a tent at the end of the street where Mr Olmert lives in Jerusalem to raise the focus on the issue.

Excitement about a possible release was raised with public statements from the Hamas and Israeli sides.

Hamas's website only a day ago suggested a deal was close when it said: "Israel has agreed to free all the prisoners on the updated list."

And Israel's Pensioners' Affairs Minister, Rafi Eitan, added to the media frenzy when he visited the Shalit tent to meet the soldier's parents and said: "I believe that the results of the talks will be positive ... If an agreement is brought for cabinet approval, I have no doubt that it will vote in favour."

Mr Olmert then ordered the chief of staff of the IDF, Gabi Ashkenazi, to return early from a tour of the US to attend a special cabinet meeting.

That cabinet meeting was still scheduled to go ahead early today at which Mr Olmert was expected to report on the negotiations and urge any future government to continue with attempts to free Sergeant Shalit.

But supporters of Sergeant Shalit believed they had their best chance of his release under Mr Olmert and that Mr Netanyahu will drive a much harder bargain with Hamas.

Israel was prepared to agree to the release of at least 450 Hamas prisoners in exchange for Sergeant Shalit, making it one of the largest prisoner exchanges in Israel's history.

It would also have led to a fascinating legal situation -- under Israel's constitution anyone has 48 hours to protest to the Supreme Court about the early release of a prisoner.

It was expected that families of some of those killed by Hamas actions could have launched legal actions in the Supreme Court once they knew the names of the prisoners to be released.

Mr Regev would not go into detail about why the talks failed, saying to do so could jeopardise future attempts to free Sergeant Shalit.

But Israeli media has reported widely that the major obstacle was Israel's insistence that some of the Hamas prisoners deemed to be a terrorist threat to Israel be forced to leave Gaza or the West Bank for other countries.

It is believed that Hamas had agreed to this condition at one point in recent days but then changed its mind.

Mr Regev said: "Obviously the process of trying to get him out will continue. But Israel came to these talks with a great deal of flexibility because we wanted to get our serviceman released."

Of Hamas, he said: "They're hardcore terrorists and we have got to be very careful about how we deal with them."

Article from: The Australian





Blog Archive


FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Followers

Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved. E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
Stop Honorcide!



Latest Recipients of
The Dhimmi Award
Dr. Phil
George Casey


The Dhimmi Award


Previous Recipients of
The Dhimmi Award




Latest Recipient of the
World-Class Hypocrite Award
Mainstream Media


World-Class Hypocrite Award


Previous Recipients of the
World-Class Hypocrite Award




Latest Recipient of the
MASH Award
Dr. Arash Hejazi


MASH Award


Previous Recipients of the
MASH Award




Latest Recipient of the
Yellow Rag Award
CNN


Yellow Rag Award


Previous Recipients of the
Yellow Rag Award




Latest Recipient of
The Face of Evil Award
Nidal Malik Hasan


The Face of Evil Award


Previous Recipients of
The Face of Evil Award




Latest Recipients of the
Distinguished Islamofascist Award
ADC, CAIR, MAS


Distinguished Islamofascist Award


Previous Recipients of the
Distinguished Islamofascist Award




Latest Recipient of the
Goebbels-Warner Award
ISNA


Goebbels-Warner Award


Previous Recipients of the
Goebbels-Warner Award




Muslm Mafia



Latest Recipient of the
Evil Dumbass Award
Somali Pirates


Evil Dumbass Award


Previous Recipients of the
Evil Dumbass Award




Insane P.I. Bill Warner
Learn about
Anti-MASH
Defamation Campaign

by Internet Thugs




Latest Recipient of the
Retarded Rabbi Award
Shmuley Boteach


Retarded Rabbi Award


Previous Recipients of the
Retarded Rabbi Award




Latest Recipient of the
Mad Mullah Award
Omar Bakri Muhammed


Mad Mullah Award


Previous Recipients of the
Mad Mullah Award




Stop Sharia Now!
ACT! For America




Latest Recipient of the
Demented Priest Award
Desmond Tutu


Demented Priest Award


Previous Recipients of the
Demented Priest Award




Egyptian Gaza Initiative

Egyptian Gaza




Note: majority of users who have posting privileges on MASH blog are not MASH members. Comments are slightly moderated. MASH does not necessarily endorse every opinion posted on this blog.



HONORARY MEMBERS
of

Muslims Against Sharia
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
Hasan Mahmud

ANTI-FASCISTS of ISLAM
Prominent.Moderate.Muslims
Tewfik Allal
Ali Alyami & Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
Zeyno Baran
Brigitte Bardet
Dr. Suliman Bashear
British Muslims
for Secular Democracy

Center for Islamic Pluralism
Tarek Fatah
Farid Ghadry &
Reform Party of Syria

Dr. Tawfik Hamid
Jamal Hasan
Tarek Heggy
Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser &
American Islamic
Forum for Democracy

Sheikh Muhammed Hisham
Kabbani & Islamic
Supreme Council of America

Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh
Nibras Kazimi
Naser Khader &
The Association
of Democratic Muslims

Mufti Muhammedgali Khuzin
Shiraz Maher
Irshad Manji
Salim Mansur
Maajid Nawaz
Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi
& Cultural Institute of the
Italian Islamic Community and
the Italian Muslim Assembly

Arifur Rahman
Raheel Raza
Imad Sa'ad
Secular Islam Summit
Mohamed Sifaoui
Mahmoud Mohamed Taha
Amir Taheri
Ghows Zalmay
Supna Zaidi &
Islamist Watch /
Muslim World Today /
Council For Democracy And Tolerance
Prominent ex-Muslims
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Magdi Allam
Zachariah Anani
Nonie Darwish
Abul Kasem
Hossain Salahuddin
Kamal Saleem
Walid Shoebat
Ali Sina & Faith Freedom
Dr. Wafa Sultan
Ibn Warraq

Defend Freedom of Speech

ISLAMIC FASCISTS
Islamists claiming to be Moderates
American Islamic Group
American Muslim Alliance
American Muslim Council
Al Hedayah Islamic Center (TX)
BestMuslimSites.com
Canadian Islamic Congress
Canadian Muslim Union
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Dar Elsalam Islamic Center (TX)
DFW Islamic Educational Center, Inc. (TX)
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (Closed)
Ed Husain & Quilliam Foundation
Islamic Association for Palestine (Closed)
Islamic Association of Tarrant County (TX)
Islamic Center of Charlotte (NC) & Jibril Hough
Islamic Center of Irving (TX)
Islamic Circle of North America
Islamic Cultural Workshop
Islamic Society of Arlington (TX)
Islamic Society of North America
Masjid At-Taqwa
Muqtedar Khan
Muslim American Society
Muslim American Society of Dallas (TX)
Muslim Arab Youth Association (Closed)
Muslim Council of Britain
Muslims for Progressive Values
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Muslim Public Affairs Council (UK)
Muslim Students Association
National Association of Muslim Women
Yusuf al Qaradawi
Wikio - Top Blogs