Israel and Hamas were close to a prisoner swap deal for a captured Israeli soldier early this year before Israel pulled out at the last moment, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told an Israeli newspaper in an interview published Friday, AP reported. The sides were about to agree on a deal that would have seen Palestinian prisoners released in return for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli tank crewman held by Hamas militants since June 2006, but then Israel «got cold feet and turned everything upside down,» Mubarak told the daily Yediot Ahronot. Israeli government officials had no immediate comment on the report. Mubarak said the Egyptian-mediated deal broke down «four or five months ago,» close to the end of the term of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, when Israel refused to free some of the prisoners that Hamas wanted in return for the soldier. The comments were among the strongest Mubarak has made publicly about the reasons for the failure of the prisoner swap deal. «Suddenly you told us, 'no, we can't release this prisoner, but this other prisoner who doesn't even appear on Hamas' list _ we can release him,»' Mubarak said. The deal was supposed to see hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including miltants freed in return for Schalit. Israel has refused to free some of the militants Hamas wants, saying they could return to violent activities.
