Based in Syria, Maashaal was allegedly due to visit Egypt early next week DAMASCUS: Hamas said Friday its exiled political leader had no plans to visit Cairo, despite media reports he would meet with Egyptian intelligence officials there over the case of an abducted Israeli soldier. Arab and Israeli media have reported that Khaled Mashaal, who lives in exile in Syria, planned to visit Egypt early next week. Egypt s chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, would reportedly deliver Israel s response to Hamas conditions for releasing the soldier in a swap for Palestinians in Israeli jails. This is not true. There is no official invitation to [visit] Cairo. No one is heading to Cairo now, Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy leader of Hamas political bureau in Syria, said Friday. Cpl. Gilad Shalit was captured June 25 by Hamas-linked militants, and is believed to be held in the Gaza Strip. His abduction sparked an Israeli military offensive there that has killed more than 200 Palestinians. Israeli officials said they were unaware of any progress toward Shalit s release. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, visiting Cairo earlier this month, said his government accepted Egypt s conditions for a prisoner swap but blamed Mashaal for the deal s collapse. Egypt has also blamed Hamas for the delay, and demanded the militant group immediately release Shalit to avoid a worsening crisis in the battered Gaza Strip.
