Muzzaini: German mediation active, but did not reach final solution

GAZA — Dr. Osama Al-Muzzaini, one of the Hamas leaders who is in charge of the captives issue, said that his Movement’s talks with the German mediators under Egyptian patronage on the prisoners’ exchange deal with Israel were "vigorous" but did not yet reach the aspired end of the road.

Muzzaini in a statement to Quds net published on Sunday said that the negotiations were actively progressing, noting that a number of important topics were being debated between Hamas and the German mediators regarding the Movement’s demands.

He said that certain obstacles were hindering progress in the prisoners’ exchange deal between his Movement and Israel, charging the latter with insisting on excluding Palestinians of the 1948 occupied lands from any swap deal while Hamas was adamant on its conditions.

Hamas is detaining the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, since June 2006 in the Gaza Strip and is demanding the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in return for his freedom.