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Israel refuses to release prisoners for tape of missing soldier
JERUSALEM - Israel has categorically refused to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a recording of an Israeli soldier seized by militants in Gaza in late June, a senior official told AFP Sunday. “This proposition is completely unacceptable,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
He should have ended his statement with words along the lines of, "Shalit alive or Haniyeh dead."
Quoting senior officials, the Maariv daily reported Sunday that the Palestinian ruling Hamas movement had offered that a video tape of Corporal Gilad Shalit, which has been passed to Egyptian authorities, be handed over to Israel in exchange for the release of up to 250 Palestinian prisoners. The exact nature of the recording was unclear, with the Israeli media referring to it as a video and some officials calling it an audio tape.

The official told AFP that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the proposal, saying that the recording “would add to the suffering of Gilad Shalit’s family.”
Not to mention opening themselves to being nickel-and-dimed on the transfer.
A senior Hamas official, Mussa Abu Marzuk, said on Thursday in Damascus that Shalit was alive and that a recording of him had been handed over to Israeli authorities.

Shalit, 20, was seized on June 25 in a cross-border raid carried out by three Gaza militant groups, including the armed wing of Hamas. Egypt has been mediating between Israel and the Palestinians over the serviceman’s release.
Posted by: Steve White 2007-01-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=177198