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Palestinian group says no progress on Israeli soldier's release

Israel Materials 9 February 2009 16:40 (UTC +04:00)

A Palestinian militant group on Monday said no progress was made on the release of a captive Israeli soldier and insisted Israel meet the captors' demand, Xinhua reported.

"The issue of Gilad Shalit has seen no progress, unlike what the media, especially the Israeli newspapers, say," said Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a group that worked with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the capture of Shalit in 2006.

Shalit remains in Palestinian captivity since he was seized by Gaza fighters in a cross-border raid.

Over the past days, statements by Hamas and Israeli officials predicted that Shalit would be released soon as part of efforts aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Abu Mujahed said there will be no prisoner exchange until Israel meets the demands of the captors that were handed to Egypt, the mediator, months ago.

"Our demands are the release of 1,400 Palestinians whose names appeared in the lists that we handed to the Egyptians," he said.

He said a ceasefire, securing the lifting of Gaza blockade, would help accelerate the release of Shalit and the Palestinian prisoners.

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