Shalit should not be part of Gaza truce deal: Hamas

CAIRO (AFP) – Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit should not be part of a deal to end the siege of Gaza, a Hamas leader said after talks in Cairo, where the Islamists said they were mulling an 18-month renewable truce.

Hamas leaders held talks with Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Sunday aimed at shoring up the ceasefire that ended 22 days of war in Gaza and opening up its borders, days after a similar visit by an Israeli envoy.

Shalit, captured by Gaza-based militants including Hamas in 2006, is "a separate issue and should be dealt with in the framework of a prisoner exchange only," Gaza-based Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told the state MENA news agency.

"Hamas does not agree to link the release of Shalit with a truce and the lifting of the blockade."

Suleiman, Egypt's pointman for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, said that Israel had proposed an 18-month renewable truce and "we will examine the proposal in detail and respond to Egypt," Taha was quoted as saying.

An Egyptian truce plan foresees opening up Gaza crossing points that have been more or less sealed for 18 months, securing Gaza's borders to prevent weapons smuggling and reconvening Palestinian reconciliation talks.

Ending smuggling through tunnels from Egypt and eking out a new deal to reopen Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza -- the only one that bypasses Israel -- are crucial to the truce talks' success.

Taha said the matter of Rafah is "complex and thorny."

"We are open to the presence of European observers, Turkish observers and forces from Gaza's national security to open (Rafah) on a temporary basis until the formation of a national unity government."

Under a 2005 deal, Rafah can only be opened to normal traffic if EU observers and forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority which was ejected from Gaza in 2007 are present.

Hamas wants to "complete the truce, lift the siege and reopen the crossings before engaging in (Palestinian national) reconciliation," Taha said.

Several Palestinian factions, including from president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine began arriving in Cairo on Sunday for further truce and reconciliation talks.

A delegation from Islamic Jihad is expected to join the talks on Monday.