Friday, July 4, 2008

Hamas suspends prisoner swap talks

Al-Jazeera

"Hamas says it has suspended negotiations on the release of Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier, because Israel was not respecting the terms of a truce with the group.

"It makes no sense for us to begin negotiating on the matter of Shalit's release when Israel is not committed to the calm," Moussa Abu-Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said on Friday.

Israel sealed off the Gaza crossings again on Thursday in retaliation for a Palestinian rocket attack. It was the sixth incident of rocket fire since a fragile Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal came in force in Gaza.

Tenuous truce

The truce was supposed to lead to the easing of a crippling blockade Israel imposed after Hamas seized power in Gaza more than a year ago, but the military said the crossings would stay closed until at least Sunday.

In an interview with Al-Hayyat, a London based newspaper, Abu-Marzouk, chief negotatior on the fate of Shalit, accused rival Palestinian group Fatah of orchestrating the rocket attacks in order to sabotage Hamas.

Abu-Marzouk also called on Egypt to intervene to ensure that the rocket fire stops [??].

Israel has hinged its adherence to the ceasefire on negotiations for the release of Shalit, who was kidnapped by Gaza fighters in a cross-border raid in June 2006....."

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