Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday the German mediator in the Gilad Shalit talks has given Israel two to three weeks to approve a prisoner swap deal to free the kidnapped soldier, according to Ynet.
Abbas told the Egyptian Al-Ahram, "I have learned from Israel, and not from anyone else, that the German mediator has allotted a limited time period after which he will stop mediating between the sides if the prisoner swap deal is not completed."
Asked to specify the time allotted, Abbas said, "Two or three weeks."
A Hamas source told Ynet that the German mediator blames Israel for delaying the deal.
"Every time the deal comes close to being completed, Israel starts withdrawing and biding time in order to postpone agreements," he said.
The Israel Defense Forces soldier was seized in June 2006 by Palestinian militants while on patrol near the Gaza Strip.
In September, Israel released 20 Palestinian female prisoners in exchange for a video clip proving that Shalit was still alive.
The Gaza Strip has been the subject of an almost continuous Israeli blockade since Hamas took control of the enclave in the summer of 2007. The release of Shalit is a major precondition for the lifting of the blockade.
MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti)
