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List of 450 ready for a possible Shalit exchange
RAMALLAH: A special Israeli ministerial task force has completed drafting a list of 450 Palestinian prisoners whom Israel would be willing to release in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.The Israeli daily Haaretz said the ministerial panel, headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon, finished drafting its list on Sunday and submitted it to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Sometime in the next few days, Olmert will discuss it with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and if the troika approves the list, it will be sent to Egypt and presented to Hamas as a formal Israeli offer. According to the report, this is the first time Israel has submitted a list of its own, rather than merely approving or rejecting names submitted by Hamas. However, the report added that Israel is threatening to take various active measures should Hamas continue to delay talks over Shalit, who was captured by a Hamas-led military group in a cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006. Israeli officials sent this message to Hamas via an Egyptian mediator last week. Of the 450 prisoners specifically requested by Hamas, Israel had previously agreed to release only about 70, and all of them appear on the list drafted by the ministerial panel. The list also includes additional names on Hamas list that Israel had originally vetoed, but whom it is now prepared to release in line with the new, more flexible criteria for freeing prisoners with blood on their hands that Ramons team approved. Previously approved criteria had barred the release of any Palestinian involved in killing an Israeli. Posted by: Classer 2008-09-10 |
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