[ 23/10/2010 - 07:41 AM ]
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Hamas MP Hassan Yousef, who is detained in Israeli occupation jails, has denied meeting with the German envoy mediating the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in prison.
Yousef in a statement published on Friday said that the report by London-based Al-Hayat newspaper in this regard was completely baseless.
He charged that the report was a "Zionist fabrication" aimed at spreading confusion over the prisoners' exchange deal.
The lawmaker asked the press and media to scrutinize their reports and ascertain their credibility before publishing such sensitive issues, affirming that prisoners do not have any role in this deal.
Yousef, who was elected to the Palestinian legislative council in 2006 while in custody, has been held in Israeli jails since 2005 and is serving a six and a half years sentence for affiliation with Hamas movement.
Report: Shalit Mediator Met with Senior Detained Hamas Official
22/10/2010 The Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported yesterday that the German mediator in the Shalit deal, Gerhard Conrad, met last month in an Israeli prison with one of the leaders of Hamas in the West Bank, Sheikh Hassan Yousuf.
A senior Hamas figure, who asked to remain anonymous, told the newspaper about the meeting, explaining that the imprisoned leadership of the organization has the same amount of influence as the group's leadership domestically and abroad.
"Everyone is united over the stance of the movement on the deal," he said.
The senior Hamas figure said that Israel had vetoed the possibility of even discussing the release from prison or the expulsion of 15 senior imprisoned Hamas members whose names were on the list of 450 prisoners Hamas demanded released in return for captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Hamas leader said that the governments of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Olmert are the ones who reneged from their original positions and are preventing the deal from going through.
"Each time there is progress, the Israeli side pulls back. Initially the Israelis vetoed the release of 149 prisoners and then they went down to 50, and in the last round they insisted on not releasing 15 people who they say have 'blood on their hands,'" the Hamas man said.
According to the Hamas figure, Ahmed Jabari, a senior military commander, opposed the deal without those 15 leading prisoners.
The 15 are senior members of the military arm of the organization. Among them are Abdullah Barghouti and Abbas al-Sayad.
Marwan Barghouti, although not a Hamas man, is also one of the 15, and the Saudi newspaper Al-Madina reported Wednesday that Israel would be willing to release him. There has been no Israeli confirmation of this claim.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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