Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday Egyptian mediators between Israeli and the Palestinian side had brought a new prisoner swap proposal involving Palestinian prisoners and an abducted Israeli soldier.

Under the proposal, the release of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit would be imminent, that is, in two or three weeks, Abbas told reporters in Ramallah without further elaboration.

The military wing of Hamas led a cross-border raid in June 25, 2006 and kidnapped Shalit from his base in southeast Gaza Strip.

Differences between Israel and the Palestinians over the names and numbers of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Shalit have resulted in the abortion of several Egyptian offers on the swap.

Meanwhile, Abbas, returned last week from a European tour lobbying for support for the newly founded coalition government, said European countries will continue supporting the Palestinians and that they "refuse the siege on the people and are keen to deal with the government."

After the formation of the coalition government in March, the EU announced it would limit its contacts with non-Hamas ministers.

Source: Xinhua