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World Jewish News
Schalit gives Carter letter for son
12.06.2009
Noam Schalit, father of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit who has been held in Hamas captivity for almost three years, met former US president Jimmy Carter in Jerusalem Friday afternoon and gave him a letter destined for his son Gilad.Carter, who has been monitoring the Lebanese elections last week as head of an NGO which carries his name, came to Israel after visiting Damascus, Syria, en route to the Gaza Strip. He promised to try to transfer the letter to the captive soldier.
Schalit was quoted by Israel Radio as saying he hopes Carter's lobbying on behalf of the Schalit family would bear fruit, as "he is the only American in contact with Hamas."
He said he "did not receive any good news" from the Israeli government lately, but expressed hope that Hagai Hadas, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's point man on the Schalit dossier, would advance his son's case.
On Thursday, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman told Khaled Mashaal, Hamas politburo chief in Damascus, that Israel was willing to release 650 Palestinian prisoners, among them Fatah members and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, but clarified that there were no new negotiations on the subject.
Al Jareeda, a Kuwaiti paper, reported on Thursday that Suleiman told Mashaal to calculate his moves carefully because Schalit was "the only card" left in Hamas's hand and the organization was also unpopular in the wake of Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in early 2009.
Источник: JPost.com
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