Is the long-awaited prisoner swap deal finally at hand, asks Dina Ezzat Will it happen this time? The question is again being asked in the face of fresh news predicting the completion of a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. According to this deal, the Palestinian resistance movement should free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive since June 2006, in return for just under 500 Palestinian prisoners that might include popular figure Marwan Al-Barghouti. The deal, however, requires that some of the Palestinian prisoners freed be sent away from both the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, though to where is unclear. This week, in Cairo, President Hosni Mubarak and visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres discussed the completion of the deal. Also this week, following the Peres visit, a Hamas leader arrived to Cairo for talks on the same issue with General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman. The Hamas delegation left Cairo for Damascus for a meeting with Hamas leaders based in the Syrian capital, including Khaled Meshaal, head of the Hamas politburo. "It will happen; in days or weeks, but things are coming together," commented an informed source on condition of anonymity. The source nonetheless advised caution: "Obviously this is not the first time we thought it was going to happen." According to this source the prisoner swap deal got near to completion at least three times over the past two years. Each time it was blocked at the last minute. Egypt blames both Israel and Iran's influence over Hamas for the last minute breakdowns. This time around, Egyptian sources say, it seems that both sides have an interest to keep things going. On Tuesday Suleiman called Ehud Barak, the Israeli minister in charge of the prisoner swap deal. While little is being said about this call, indications are that things are moving in the right direction, though not necessarily at perfect speed. Hamas sources say that things seem to be on the right track, but they add that if Israel insists on too many of those to be released being expelled from Gaza and the West Bank, then complications could resurface. In Israel on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said "there is no deal yet and I don't know if there will be one." Earlier this week in Israel the father and brother of Shalit were received by Israeli officials. The foreign minister of Germany, whose country is coordinating the mediation of the deal with Egypt, was also in Israel earlier this week. None offered any comment. If the deal is completed and Al-Barghouti is released he would possibly run for president in the next elections, tentatively expected to take place next year, sources close to Al-Barghouti said. This is a scenario supported in some Arab capitals that feel it is time for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to retire in view of his role in perpetuating Palestinian disunity. The completion of the deal, Egyptian diplomats say, could inject a sense of dynamism into the Palestinian scene but would not necessarily lead to the resumption of Palestinian- Israeli talks. "Those are basically two separate files," commented one diplomat. During their talks in Cairo on Sunday, Mubarak asked Peres to pressure Netanyahu on suspending settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, if only for a few months, to allow for the resumption of peace talks. Peres was non- committal, saying in a joint press conference with Mubarak that East Jerusalem falls under the sovereignty of Israel. For his part, Mubarak insisted that the continued construction of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem would complicate the situation and block peace. Meanwhile, Mohamed Shalgam, the UN permanent representative of Libya, the only Arab non- permanent member on the UN Security Council, said Monday in New York that his country is contemplating the idea of presenting to the council a resolution to force Israel to suspend settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories. Some Arab capitals have failed to secure American support for a proposal to issue the Palestinian Authority a letter of guarantee on the final shape of a settlement ahead of the resumption of negotiations as a substitute for a total freeze on settlement construction. All Arab countries have opposed, though at different levels, Israel's proposal of striking a temporary agreement between Palestinians and Israelis. "The current situation does not allow for temporary settlements," Mubarak said during his joint press conference with Peres. "This is a very crucial phase," he insisted. The president added that the time has come to reach a final deal and that it should be implemented within a clear timescale.
