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DEBKAfile's exclusive sources disclose that Syrian president Bashar Assad ordered the Palestinian extremist Hamas to drop its all-or-nothing ultimatum and ease its demands from 100 to 90 percent for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit held since he was abducted nearly three years ago. Hamas complied with its sponsor's orders. This gave Israeli envoys Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin and negotiator on prisoners Ofer Dekel grounds for extending their talks in Cairo with Egyptian go-betweens beyond their Sunday night, March 15, deadline.Hamas' new flexibility has not yet produced a breakthrough. The special cabinet meeting called Monday to hear their report was therefore postponed.Our military sources disclose that the Hamas negotiators for a prisoner swap are Mussa Abu Marzuk from Damascus, Muhammad A-Zahar from Gaza and Hayman Taha, who is emerging as new Hamas strongman after Siad Siyam was killed in Israel's military operation in January. They head a large 40-strong Hamas delegation in the Egyptian capital.The two main sticking points are the gap between the number of hard-case Palestinian terrorists convicted of multiple murder demanded by Hamas for Shalit's freedom and the list offered by Israel, as well as their destinations after they leave Israeli prisons.Sources in Jerusalem calculate that progress in closing these gaps may also be affected by the complexities of Assad's relations with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who is hosting the prisoner negotiations, and King Abdullah. Even after their reconciliation summit in Riyadh last week, Mubarak continues to treat the Syrian ruler as Iran's stooge in the Arab world. At times, the Saudi king finds himself mediating between the two rulers on controversial issues, including that of the captive Israeli soldier.Friday, March 13, upon returning from the Riyadh summit, Assad instructed Hamas to marginally ease its demands in keeping with a promise he gave Mubarak, Abdullah and the Kuwait emir. The Egyptian president secretly phoned Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert with the news that promised a new lease of life for the prisoner swap negotiations.Diskin and Dekel were dispatched to Cairo along with cautious hope for a breakthrough that would let Olmert bow out as prime minister with a rare success on a issue on which he has faced bitter popular recrimination.As in the days of Noah...
