'Olmert, Abbas to meet if Gaza soldier freed'

Jerusalem, Sept 5: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will seek a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if gunmen in the Gaza Strip release a captive Israeli soldier, Olmert's senior deputy said today.

''When this situation is resolved, it (the meeting) will take place,'' Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israel's Army Radio.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been almost completely stalled since the militant Islamic group Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority in March, after defeating Abbas's Fatah movement in elections in January.

The captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was seized by a group of Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas, on June 25th after a raid into Israel from Gaza.

Since Shalit's capture, Israel has stepped up pressure on militants in Gaza, carrying out a series of incursions into the Gaza Strip, battling gunmen in the streets and targeting suspected militant houses with air strikes.

At least 200 people, around half of them militants, have been killed in the fighting.

Talks over releasing Shalit, including the possibility of a prisoner swap, have gathered momentum in recent days, with Abbas indicating in a newspaper interview today that the Israeli could be freed shortly.

REUTERS

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