Hamas says talks on Israeli soldier deadlocked

The exiled leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas said in an interview Monday that negotiations with Israel on freeing captured soldier Gilat Shalit were deadlocked. Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Syria, accused Israel in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper of being an unreliable partner in Mideast peace talks and in negotiations to release Shalit, who was captured in June 2006 and has since been held in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. " Because the Palestinians are currently divided, the Palestinian side is thus negotiating from a position of weakness " Khaled Meshaal, exiled Hamas chief Asked about the state of negotiations, Meshaal said: "They are at a standstill because of the lack of reliability of Israeli negotiators, who have repeatedly reneged on negotiated positions." Israel and Hamas have held Egyptian-mediated... [read full story]