Israel says stance unchanged after deadline passes

JERUSALEM, July 4 (Reuters) Israel said today its position had not changed after it ignored a deadline to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured by militants from Gaza.

''Nothing has changed from our standpoint,'' Justice Minister Haim Ramon said on Army Radio.

''The right thing is not to give a prize to terror, not to give in to terror, but the opposite.'' REUTERS CH KN1029