A pro-Hamas armed group in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday the issue of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is linked to the fate of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and that he would not be freed under Egypt's mediation.
Abu Mujahed, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), said his group "will not accept it linked with other files,"referring to Israeli requests to free the soldier under an Egypt-proposed six-month ceasefire for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
"If the occupation and its Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are serious to restore the soldier Shalit to his family, the road is clear and it starts with the releasing of the Palestinian prisoners who the resistance requested to be freed," said the spokesman.
"Shalit can not be freed if our conditions and demands are not met," said Abu Mujahed.
Shalit was kidnapped in June 2006 in a cross-border raid carried out by Hamas, the PRC and the Army of Islam, which demanded exchange Shalit for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to women, patients, young and old prisoners.
The issue of Shalit was renewed recently as Egypt presented a ceasefire offer between Israel and various armed Palestinian groups, led by Hamas.
The Egyptian proposal is meant to lift the closure on the Gaza Strip and stop Israeli military actions which intensified after Hamas seized power of the coastal strip by force about one year ago.
Source:Xinhua
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