Hamas says Israel responsible for prisoner swap delay

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The Islamist militant group Hamas on Wednesday blamed "Israeli intransigence" for the delay in a deal to release a captured Israeli soldier in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

"The message must reach Gilad Shalit's family that Israel bears the responsibility for prolonging his captivity," Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Reuters in the Syrian capital.

Egypt has been mediating a swap and President Hosni Mubarak said at a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last Thursday he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.

"There had been real progress and Egypt is making a positive effort but regrettably the talks stumbled in the last few days because of Israeli intransigence," Meshaal said.

Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and other Palestinian groups captured Shalit in a raid outside Gaza in June. Israel launched months of attacks on the territory aimed at forcing Hamas to give him up.

Meshaal, who visited Egypt at the end of last year to discuss a prisoner exchange with Egyptian officials, said Hamas had demanded the release of 1,000 prisoners as well as hundreds of jailed women and children.

A Palestinian politician familiar with the prisoners swap efforts said Hamas has agreed to lower the number of prisoners it wants released.

"There are negotiations going on over the numbers but we don't want to go into details," Meshaal said.

"We are keen to release Shalit as soon as possible, but only in return for Israel releasing a number of our men, women, children and Palestinian leaders in its jails," he said.

An Israeli political source said on Sunday that Israel had rejected an offer from Hamas of a videotape to prove that Shalit was alive in return for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners.

Meshaal said Shalit was being given "good treatment".

"The international community is concerned for one Israeli soldier called Gilad Shalit and has memorized his name," Meshaal said. "It must show concern for the suffering of 11,000 Palestinian prisoners who include 400 children and 120 women."