Iran 'wrecked kidnap deal with bribe'
By Tim Butcher in Gaza
Israel has accused Iran of scuppering attempts to win the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli corporal captured by Palestinian militants near Gaza, by paying the militant Palestinian Islamic group Hamas £30 million not to agree to a prisoner exchange.
Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, said Teheran paid Khaled Meshaal, the hard-line Hamas leader who lives as an exile in Damascus, to ruin any chance of a negotiated settlement to this summer's Gaza crisis. "The Iranians paid him £30 million in order to avert and sabotage an imminent release," the ambassador said in New York.
"I informed the Security Council of news that we received, that we have every reason to believe that the Iranian regime has bribed Khaled Meshaal. I believe that the Security Council is worried about this and I hope that these worries will be translated into action very swiftly." Negotiations brokered by Egypt's intelligence chief appeared to be moving towards a deal two months ago that would have seen Cpl Shalit exchanged for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, only to collapse suddenly.
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Just to give you an idea of what 30 million Pounds Sterling is in U.S. dollars:
30,000,000 * 1.9088 = $57,264,038 (today's exchange rate)
The story comes to you via The Religion of Peace...
Pertinent Links:
1) Iran 'wrecked kidnap deal with bribe'
2) Exchange Rates
3) The Religion of Peace
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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