A deal for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will be finalized soon, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Fayed Mustafa said on Thursday.
"The negotiations between Israel and Hamas, ongoing in Cairo with Egyptian mediation, are close to completion," he said.
He gave no details.
Former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Muhammad Basyuni claimed earlier on Thursday that a deal on Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by militants in Gaza in 2006, would be announced "within hours," adding that Israel had agreed to release 1,000 prisoners.
However, the Israeli prime minister's office said there had been "no breakthrough" in the talks on Shalit's release.
MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti)
