Hamas leader in Cairo for talks on captured IDF soldier Shalit

[Behind the Aegis]

Damascus-based Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal arrived Wednesday night for a surprise visit to Cairo, during which he is scheduled to meet with senior Egyptian officials.

According to Palestinian sources, Meshal will discuss a prisoner exchange involving captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted in a June cross-border raid along the Gaza Strip.

Shalit is being held by a number of Palestinian groups, including Hamas, although the Army of Islam, one of the groups believed to be holding Shalit, said recently that the soldier was being held exclusively by Hamas.

Meshal does not visit Cairo often, and during his last visit roughly two weeks ago expectations were high that he had arrived in Egypt in order to accept the Egyptian proposal for a prisoner swap, although ultimately there was no breakthrough in the talks.

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