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Hamas leader seeks exchange

Exiled chief wants release of Palestinian prisoners as part of deal to free soldier; Israel won't negotiate

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | Newsday Middle East Correspondent

July 11, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hamas' top leader emerged from hiding yesterday in Syria and vowed that the crisis over a kidnapped Israeli soldier would not end unless Israel agrees to a prisoner exchange.

"We don't want escalation. We are for a peaceful, quiet resolution," Khaled Meshaal, head of the Hamas political bureau, said at a news conference in the Syrian capital of Damascus. "The solution is simple: a prisoner swap. But Israel rejects this. "

Fearful of an Israeli assassination attempt, Meshaal has not appeared in public since June 25, when Hamas fighters abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, in a cross-border raid into Israel and brought him back to Gaza. As diplomatic efforts to win his release failed, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that has killed nearly 60 Palestinians.

The impasse appears no closer to a resolution than it did when it began last month. A few hours before Meshaal's appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in Jerusalem that releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit would be a "major mistake" - and his government won't do it.

"Khaled Meshaal is a terrorist with blood on his hands. He's not a legitimate partner for anything," Olmert said. "I will not negotiate with Hamas. "

Meshaal was equally defiant and combative during his two-hour news conference, which was held under tight security. Journalists were not told where they would meet Meshaal, but instead were asked to gather at a site in the capital and then were driven in buses to a hotel conference room.

The Hamas chief, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 1997, denied Israeli claims that he ordered Shalit's abduction, and that he controls his fate.

"Resistance is not managed by remote control," said Meshaal, adding that the militants holding Shalit were handling the negotiations by themselves. "They know how to deal with this case. "

But Meshaal admitted that he has met with intermediaries from Egypt, Turkey and other countries who are trying to broker a compromise. Officials close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas say Meshaal holds the key to resolving the standoff, but he has refrained from doing so to weaken Hamas leaders inside the Palestinian territories.

Most major decisions within Hamas are made by its political bureau, which has eight to 10 members who mainly live in exile in Syria. At least two members live in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli officials say Meshaal and other Syria-based officials are less willing to make concessions than the Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank.

Meshaal called Shalit a "prisoner of war" and said Israel has little choice but to negotiate for his release. It was unclear whether Meshaal intended that as an official designation, which would mean Shalit would be covered under the Geneva Conventions and would be allowed visits by international groups that would evaluate the conditions of his imprisonment.

The militants holding Shalit have asked Israel to release up to 1,000 of the estimated 9,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Olmert has repeatedly refused to negotiate with the militants, and has told intermediaries that there can be no direct prisoner exchange.

Olmert yesterday said the Gaza offensive would continue until the Israeli military finds Shalit and stops Palestinians from firing homemade rockets into Israeli cities. But he said the attack is not intended to destroy the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which took office after the group swept parliamentary elections in January.

"We have no particular desire to topple the Hamas government as a policy," Olmert said. "We have a desire to stop terrorists from inflicting terror on the Israeli people. "

Meshaal shrugged off Israeli threats against him, saying he has been resigned to dying since he survived the assassination attempt nine years ago.

"Death comes with God's will. I have had enough from life and I long to meet God," he said. "What Israel is threatening me with is what I long for. Since 1997, I consider every day I live an added bonus. They will not obtain any compromise from me."