Hamas: Shalit deal remains elusive

Hamas has denied reports that the group is close to finalising a deal with Israel over the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian fighters more than three years ago.

Speaking on Al Jazeera on Sunday, Osama al-Mzainy, a senior Hamas leader who is responsible for the negotiations on Shalit, said that speculation over a deal was premature.

"All statements about the optimism and expectations - and that the deal will soon be sealed - all these statements are exaggerated," he said.

"We still need some time in order to overcome the obstacles placed by the Israelis."

Hamas has demanded the release of of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for Shalit.

"They will be released in two stages, al-Mzainy said.

"The first group will comprise 450 prisoners, whose names are determined by Hamas... In the second stage, 550 prisoners will be released. Hamas is attached to this plan.

"We will not accept any deal unless this request is accepted."

Among those that Hamas wants freed is Marwan Barghouti, a popular leader from the rival Fatah movement, a demand that is thought to be one of the stumbling blocks in negotiations.

Barghouti was arrested in the West Bank in April 2002, and is serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.

In recent days, media reports had suggested the two sides were close to agreement.

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Source: Al Jazeera (English)

Criminal elected to Palestine executive

By John Lyons, Middle East correspondent | August 12

EFFORTS to restart peace talks in the Middle East were set back yesterday when Palestinians elected to their leadership Marwan Barghouti, a man serving a life term in jail for organising the killing of Israelis.

The ruling faction of the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, elected Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in Israel, to its executive committee.

In opinion polls, Barghouti regularly outpolls current Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas as preferred leader by Palestinians even though he is in an Israeli jail.

He is considered a mastermind of the second intifada that erupted in 2000, but insists he was not involved in organising the killings for which he is serving time.

Mr Abbas was re-elected unopposed yesterday as leader of the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank.

The results came as the Obama administration's attempts to stop Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem received another setback, this time from Barack Obama's own Democratic ranks.

Leading US Democrat Steny Hoyer, the US house majority leader, said yesterday the US congress differentiated between building in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

He warned that Mr Obama risked losing "some, maybe much" of his support from the Jewish community in the US if they judged his policies had undermined Israel.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Mr Hoyer said: "I think there is a significant difference between what we are talking about in the West Bank and Jerusalem itself, which is an integrated city, which is a whole.

"My view is that it will remain whole and therefore -- I don't want to anticipate the endgame -- I don't think the partitioning of Jerusalem is a reasonable outcome." Read more here ...

Source: The Australian

Sources: Israel to free intifada architect

By Aaron Klein

Terror group founder part of expected deal on kidnapped soldier Shalit

JERUSALEM – Israel has agreed to release confessed intifada architect and terrorist group founder Marwan Barghouti as part of a larger prisoner exchange with the Hamas terrorist organization, WND has learned.

Sources in Hamas, the Egyptian government and the Barghouti family all told WND today they were informed Israel will release Barghouti if there is a larger prisoner exchange with Hamas that would bring home kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive since June 2006.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, would neither confirm nor deny the report.

"We'd like to have Gilad Shalit back home, and we're making serious efforts," he told WND.

A separate source in Olmert's office confirmed Barghouti has been accepted as part of a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

Barghouti, serving multiple life terms for killing and planning the murders of scores of Israeli civilians, successfully ran in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, stressing as part of his election platform his efforts in planning the intifada.

He is a founder of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the so-called military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. The Brigades is responsible for scores of deadly shootings and rocket attacks, and, together with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, for every suicide bombing in Israel since 2005.

Barghouti has widespread support in the Palestinian street and with many members of Fatah. Although Hamas is at odds with Fatah, the Islamist group has publicly included Barghouti among the top of its list of prisoners it wants released for Shalit, likely so Hamas can be seen as the dealmaker.

Informed Israeli diplomatic sources told WND that if a larger deal is struck for Shalit, the Jewish state is considering announcing the release of Barghouti as a declared gesture to Abbas to bolster Fatah alongside a larger prisoner exchange with Hamas that is sure to legitimize the terrorist group.

Earlier today, Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted sources close to indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations regarding Shalit as saying a deal for the abducted Israeli soldier's release could be reached in the next 24 hours.

Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin and Ofer Dekel, Olmert's chief negotiator on the Shalit talks, extended their stay in Egypt to conclude a deal for Shalit.

Israel's Knesset is set to begin forming a new coalition tomorrow to pave the way for Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu to take office. Olmert is keen to conclude a deal with Hamas for Shalit before he leaves office – which could be within the next few days. According to sources in Hamas, Olmert's negotiators have been passing messages to the Islamist group claiming Hamas will not get a better deal for Shalit under Netanyahu.

Israel is expected to release hundreds of prisoners in an exchange deal with Hamas.

Knesset Member Rafi Eitan, known to be close to Olmert, told the Israeli media earlier today a deal with Shalit is likely to be concluded.

"It is possible to assume that Olmert's emissaries in Cairo will return to Israel with a deal for Shalit's return," said Eitan, speaking on Army Radio

"I assume that the results will be positive. If an agreement is brought for Cabinet approval, I have no doubt that it will vote in favor," Eitan said.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Hillary's Doublespeak on Palestinian TVIs coddling delusion and aggression a way to help people?

By P. David Hornik

A poll published this week by the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that, at present, Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh would defeat Fatah-affiliated, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, 47%-45%, if elections were held in the West Bank and Gaza.

Three months ago, before Operation Cast Lead, Abbas would have beaten Haniyeh by 48%-38%, so the shift is dramatic. The current poll also found that Hamas’s popularity as a movement increased in the same period from 28% to 33%, while Fatah’s dropped from 42% to 40%.

The poll indeed attributes the change to the effect of Cast Lead in bolstering sympathy for Hamas, along with the official end of Abbas’s tenure in office and resultant loss of legitimacy.

Fatah could still win, though—if it fielded the right candidate. If Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti were to run instead of Abbas, he would handily defeat Haniyeh by a margin of 61%-34%. The trouble is that Barghouti is in jail, having been given five life sentences by an Israeli civilian court in 2004 on five counts of murder in his role as leader of the violent Tanzim faction of Fatah during the Second Intifada. Read more ...e

Source: FrontPage MagazineHillary Clinton
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