During their meeting in Paris last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu if he wishes him to involved Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa towards obtaining a sign of life from Gilad Shalit or arranging a visit to the imprisoned soldier from a representative of the International Red Cross.

The French leader went on to explain that during the previous administration of Ehud Olmert, he used his good ties with the two Arab leaders towards trying to advance efforts to obtain Shalit’s release, who is also a French citizen. He explained that both leaders maintain good relations with Hamas’ Damascus-based leader, Khaled Meshal.

Regarding efforts to obtain Shalit’s release, now in his fourth year of captivity, the French president stated that Israel will have to release prisoners in compliance with Hamas demands to obtain Shalit’s release.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)