Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that Israeli
soldier Gilad Shalit who has been held hostage in Gaza since last
June is still alive.
"We are sure he is alive and we want him to return alive," Abbas
said at a joint news conference with visiting US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice in West Bank city of Ramallah.
"We try to release him alive and we have responsibility over
him," Abbas said, adding that "this is why it took this long
time."
"When we talk about the soldier, we also talk about the
Palestinian prisoners," added Abbas, responding to Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert who on Sunday criticized Abbas for not
releasing Shalit.
Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that Abbas
blatantly violated a promise to secure the release of Shalit before
forming a new Palestinian national unity government, which was set
up in mid March, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on its
website.
Shalit was kidnapped last June by Palestinian militant groups
who demand to exchange him for some 1,000 Palestinians prisoners in
Israeli jails.
(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2007)
