MANAMA/GAZA CITY, 6 September 2006 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed yesterday that negotiations have not yet been concluded on a deal to exchange a captured Israeli soldier for Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.
Abbas told a press conference in Manama that previous comments made to the media had been misinterpreted. “What I said was that there were agreements sponsored by our Egyptian brothers but they have not yet materialized,” he said.
Under the proposed deal, the Egyptians would take charge of the captured soldier whereafter there would be an exchange of prisoners. Abbas said the mooted exchange did not cover Palestinian ministers since their detention was illegal. He called for their immediate release. “We are talking about 10,000 Palestinian prisoners,” Abbas said.
Gaza militants seized Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a June 25 cross-border raid that left two other soldiers dead, sparking a large-scale Israeli offensive in the coastal strip to recover the serviceman and stamp out rocket fire. The continuing offensive has killed more than 200 Palestinians. Abbas arrived in Bahrain on Monday for a two-day visit as part of a regional tour.
During a meeting on Monday, Bahrain’s king, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa affirmed support for the Palestinians’ right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as a capital. King Hamad hailed Abbas’ efforts to boost Palestinian national unity and called on the international community to help end suffering of the Palestinian people he said was brought about by Israel’s continuous attacks.
Meanwhile, thousands of armed demonstrators broke into a government compound in Gaza yesterday, smashing windows in a violent protest on the fourth day of a strike called by president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction over nonpayment of civil service salaries. Chanting slogans, the protesters broke into the courtyard of the compound that houses the Parliament building, firing shots into the air from automatic rifles.
