Egypt Official Charged with Shalit Case Visits Ramallah
09/07/2009 An Egyptian official charged with mediating between Israel and the Palestinians for the release of captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit visited Ramallah on Thursday for talks with Palestinian Authority leaders.
General Mohammed Ibrahim serves as deputy to Egyptian intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, and has been working alongside him on attempts to bring rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah into reconciliatory talks.
Israeli occupation defense sources said on Wednesday that a freeze in the attempted reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas has also brought efforts to negotiate Shalit's to a standstill. Shalit has been in Palestinian captivity since he was captured in 2006.
The sources say the likelihood of a speedy deal to release Shalit is slim.
Recent optimistic statements made by Egyptian mediators and American and European officials were based on Cairo's efforts to reconcile the two rival Palestinian factions.
Egypt stated officially last month that it was planning to bring the parties to sign a reconciliation agreement on July 7. But the Hamas-Fatah talks stagnated more than a week ago and their scheduled resumption on July 25 is doubtful, following the objection of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Other PA leaders want to delay talks until August.
Egypt's hope of bringing about Shalit's release was also based on its expectations of brokering an internal Palestinian reconciliation. The Egyptians hoped that such an agreement and its achievements would have generated a positive atmosphere that would have encouraged Hamas to be flexible about Shalit.
The Egyptian-brokered talks between Israel and Hamas are to be resumed soon with the participation of Hagai Hadas, the Israeli prime minister's newly appointed negotiator for Shalit's release, Egyptian sources reported earlier this week.
09/07/2009 An Egyptian official charged with mediating between Israel and the Palestinians for the release of captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit visited Ramallah on Thursday for talks with Palestinian Authority leaders.
General Mohammed Ibrahim serves as deputy to Egyptian intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, and has been working alongside him on attempts to bring rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah into reconciliatory talks.
Israeli occupation defense sources said on Wednesday that a freeze in the attempted reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas has also brought efforts to negotiate Shalit's to a standstill. Shalit has been in Palestinian captivity since he was captured in 2006.
The sources say the likelihood of a speedy deal to release Shalit is slim.
Recent optimistic statements made by Egyptian mediators and American and European officials were based on Cairo's efforts to reconcile the two rival Palestinian factions.
Egypt stated officially last month that it was planning to bring the parties to sign a reconciliation agreement on July 7. But the Hamas-Fatah talks stagnated more than a week ago and their scheduled resumption on July 25 is doubtful, following the objection of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Other PA leaders want to delay talks until August.
Egypt's hope of bringing about Shalit's release was also based on its expectations of brokering an internal Palestinian reconciliation. The Egyptians hoped that such an agreement and its achievements would have generated a positive atmosphere that would have encouraged Hamas to be flexible about Shalit.
The Egyptian-brokered talks between Israel and Hamas are to be resumed soon with the participation of Hagai Hadas, the Israeli prime minister's newly appointed negotiator for Shalit's release, Egyptian sources reported earlier this week.
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