By Pakinam Amer
Sep 11, 2006, 19:12 GMT
Cairo - Securing the release of the Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants at the end of June has proved to be a challenge for Egyptian mediators.
Talks are slowing down as both Israel and Hamas refuse to make concessions over an Arab prisoner swap for Corporal Gilad Shalit.
'President Hosny Mubarak's and Egypt's efforts are continuous in this matter,' Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Monday.
Shilat was captured by Hamas militants three months ago and reportedly moved to the Gaza Strip.
Awwad insisted that the Egyptian mediating team would not give up on talks: 'We want to reach an acceptable solution to this crisis.'
On Sunday, press reports - pan-Arab daily al-Hayat newspaper topping the list - said that talks over the captive soldier had reached a deadlock, based on reports from Israeli Army Radio and Haaretz newspaper.
London-based al-Hayat said that Israel continued to refuse the release of Palestinian militant leaders whose 'hands are stained by Israeli blood.' Similar reports were echoed by the Palestinian radical group Hamas.
The mediating diplomatic group appointed by the Egyptian Government had left Gaza and returned to Cairo empty-handed, al-Hayat had reported.
'These reports are false,' Awwad said. 'The team was only transferred from Gaza to Israel in order to resume negotiations there.'
The Egyptian mediators are currently negotiating a three-stage exchange deal whereby Shalit would be safely released in exchange for several hundred Palestinian prisoners, including the elderly, sick, female and minor prisoners.
The Egyptian proposal suggests the prisoners' release be in phases, with Israel's word on it.
The negotiations are being carried out behind closed doors; little is revealed to the press about the progress, the mechanism of the swap or any further details on the exchange deal.
In a telephone interview, Mohammed Wahbi, political analyst and member of Egypt's Foreign Affairs Council, told dpa that the negotiations are ongoing, but a resolution satisfying both parties was tricky and had not been reached yet.
Hamas had demanded that the swap of Palestinian prisoners be instantaneous, and take place as the Israeli soldier is released. Hamas representatives were also quoted as saying that the resistance group alone should decide on the criteria for the captive's release, adding that they should specify the names of the Palestinian prisoners they want released.
'Hamas, with its cult-like beliefs and its stubbornness, looks at the situation as black and white: it refuses to recognize grey areas,' Wahbi said.
Palestinian Internal Affairs Security Advisor Jibril Rajoub echoed Wahbi's rhetoric, blaming Hamas for hampering talks.
Rajoub told al-Hayat that both Hamas' demands and Israel's refusal to meet them could bring the talks to an end.
The notion seems to be paradoxical to Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit's earlier statements that a swap deal was to be expected very soon.
On a different note, Wahbi said he acknowledged the lack of guarantees from both parties, and described the possibility of Israel's failure to deliver their side of the deal, if one is reached.
'The country can give its word to the international community and America itself, and still use an individualistic terror(ist) attack for instance as an excuse to withdraw its promise.
'That's why the equation, the agreement should be iron-clad,' the analyst said.
Egypt has 'weight' in the region, Wahbi added. 'If Israel fails to deliver ... Egypt can still do something, like withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv.'
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan could mediate the efforts and demand guarantees from Israel, Wahbi said.
The resumption of the peace process, the formation of a national unity government and the cessation of Hamas-led operations against Israeli settlements and soldiers could give positive signals to the Israelis, Wahbi said.
Last Thursday, The Jerusalem Post said Syria was disrupting the Shalit negotiations.
The newspaper reported that Syrian authorities are exerting pressure on the Hamas leadership, primarily on top leader Khaled Meshaal who is based in Damascus, not to accept proposals made by Egyptian mediators.
Israeli news sources also said that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in an address to parliament, confirmed that the Syrian Government was preventing the release of Shalit.
'For Israel, it's a face-saving position, whereby it is trying to prove that it is strong after its failure to achieve any victory during the Lebanon war,' Wahbi said.
Shalit was rumoured to have been moved to Egypt, but Egyptian authorities were quick to deny such reports, adding that that the soldier 'is present in a secret location in Palestine.'
According to pan-Arab al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Egyptian officials have already provided Israel with witness accounts of the captured soldier.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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