Hopes for Shalit deal during Olmert tenure fade as Hamas nixes offer

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Hamas has rejected the new list of Palestinian prisoners that Israel relayed, which are meant to be part of a swap deal that would gain the release of Gilad Shalit.

Official Palestinian sources reported during the weekend that a list had been relayed to Hamas through Egyptian mediators. The list had been delivered to the Egyptians by Ofer Dekel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's envoy in negotiating a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

Senior defense sources have expressed pessimism in recent days about the chances that Shalit will be released in the short period remaining in Olmert's tenure. Israeli officials said that the updated list included 220 of the 450 "serious" prisoners whose release Hamas is demanding. Israel also proposed that Hamas select the names from another list of 450 prisoners drafted by Dekel, so that the numbers of those released would match those that Hamas demanded.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069436.html