Olmert: Israel can't meet inmate demand

[oberliner]

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the list of prisoners the Palestinians want freed in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier "creates expectations we cannot meet," a meeting participant said.

Olmert also told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel had no plans to attack
Syria, and that the operating hours at the Gaza Strip's only cargo crossing had been significantly expanded — a confidence-building measure intended to improve the peacemaking climate.

The list of prisoners the Palestinians want freed has not been made public, but various media reports have put the number between 350 and 1,400, including militants convicted of involvement in fatal attacks on Israelis.

Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 20, was captured in June by Hamas-linked militants, and his continued detention has been a major impediment to peacemaking efforts. Shalit has not been seen or heard from since his capture, although Israel believes he is alive and being held in the Gaza Strip.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=AiTkfOZjdtJh1pfBzt_cyKbMWM0F