|
Israel rejects Mubarak deal on soldier
 Palestinian militants have agreed to a conditional release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, but Israel has not yet accepted their terms, an Egyptian newspaper quoted Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, as saying. In an interview published on Friday, Egypt's leading pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, quoted Mubarak as saying that “Egyptian contacts with several Hamas leaders resulted in preliminary, positive results in the shape of a conditional agreement to hand over the Israeli soldier as soon as possible to avoid an escalation. "But agreement on this has not yet been reached with the Israeli side," Mubarak said. The president said that he had asked Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, "not to hurry" the military offensive in Gaza, but to "give additional time to find a peaceful solution to the problem of the kidnapped soldier." Israel suspended a planned ground invasion of northern Gaza on Thursday, giving diplomacy another chance to free the Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, whom militants linked to Hamas kidnapped on Sunday from an Israeli camp near Gaza. Mubarak's remark implied that he was claiming a role in Israel's decision. Posted by: Fred 2006-06-30 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=157697 |