Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said negotiations for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants are in their final stage, according to a newspaper report on Wednesday. Militants linked to the Islamic militant group Hamas, which leads the Palestinian government, crossed the Gaza border into Israel and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit in June. "Negotiations on releasing him are in their final stage and waiting for Hamas' approval," the semi-official Al Gomhouria quoted Mubarak as telling newspaper editors accompanying him on a trip to Europe.
Egypt has made considerable efforts to resolve the crisis, Mubarak said. "But it seems that there other parties who are intervening against the interest of the Palestinian people," he said.
Mubarak did not say what other parties he was referring to but it appeared to be a reference to Syria, where Hamas' top leader Khaled Mashaal lives. He did not give additional details about the negotiations.