Schalit's captors to Channel 2: 'We won't hold him forever'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Several Gaza operatives who claimed they participated in Gilad Schalit's capture stressed that they wanted to release the soldier and that they would not hold him forever. "We want to free Gilad Schalit," the masked gunmen told Channel 2 in an interview aired Thursday. "There is simply a document that [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert needs to sign to free him." The purported captors insisted that "we won't hold him forever," and that the whole issue could be resolved in "one swap deal." They said they would only reveal details about Schalit's condition "for a price" and emphasized that they were prepared to deal with the next Israeli government. "Yes, we want to finish this thing," they said. Nevertheless, a source close to the Schalit talks told the television channel that the negotiations were "difficult" and that "no end was in sight."