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Exiled Hamas chief Mesha'al threatens to capture Israelis

Exiled Hamas chief Khalid Mesha'al on Friday threatened that his Islamist movement would capture Israeli citizens if the Jewish state does not release tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 21:20 May 10, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • There are 11,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, says Khalid Mesha'al.
  • Image Credit: EPA

Damascus/Ramallah: Exiled Hamas chief Khalid Mesha'al on Friday threatened that his Islamist movement would capture Israeli citizens if the Jewish state does not release tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

"If our enemies don't set free our prisoners held in the Israeli jails, Gilad Shalit will not be the last" to be captured, he said of the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian fighters in 2006.

There are "11,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails", Mesha'al said in a speech at a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus to mark the Naqba or catastrophe of Israel's creation 60 years ago.

Olmert probe

In Ramallah, the Palestinians' top peace negotiator said yesterday he feared a criminal investigation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could damage the chance of a deal this year on Palestinian statehood.

Though Olmert has denied wrongdoing in his ties to an American businessman at the centre of a police inquiry into allegations of bribery, the Prime Minister said on Thursday he would resign if indicted - a likely setback to efforts to secure a peace accord from the US-sponsored talks before US President George W. Bush steps down in January.

"The developments in the Israeli political system and the investigation could make it difficult to conclude an agreement this year," Ahmad Qorie, a former Palestinian prime minister who now leads peace talks, said in a speech in Ramallah.

"I am not optimistic that an agreement can be concluded this year, but I am also not pessimistic," he said, echoing concerns expressed by more junior members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration.

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