Official: Hamas not to yield to pressure to free Shalit

GAZA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Hamas movement will not yield to any pressure to free the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit until Israel releases Palestinian prisoners from its jails, a senior Hamas official said on Monday.

Salah el-Bardaweel, a Gaza-based Hamas leader told reporters that his movement "won't yield to any pressure until its demand to free Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails for the release of the soldier is met."

The Hamas official held Israel responsible for the failure of the prisoners' swap deal, adding that the German mediator has realized that Israel is the one which blocks any progress to finalize the deal.

Hamas kidnapped Shalit during a cross-border raid in June 2006 and asked Israel to free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the release of Shalit.

"Our demands are fair, and the German mediator understands now that Israel is the one which rejects Hamas demands and blocks any progress to free Shalit and the Palestinian prisoners," said el- Bardaweel.

He accused Israel of wasting time "in order to put more pressure on Hamas and prepare for carrying out another large-scale war on the Gaza Strip and resume weak talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas."