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"Two weeks before Monday’s release of an audiotape of a captured Israeli soldier in Gaza, his father set in motion a request to Hamas, the Islamic militant group holding the soldier, for some sign that the young man was alive.
Seeking new channels of communication after a year with no word from the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, his father, Noam Shalit, sought the assistance of Norway, the only European country to maintain ties with Hamas leaders, according to someone involved in the mediation.
In mid-June, Mr. Shalit traveled to Norway with Yossi Beilin, the head of the leftist Meretz Party in Israel, and met with Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian foreign minister, a spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry confirmed. A few days later, Sven Sevje, the Norwegian special envoy to the Middle East, met with the Hamas political chief, Khaled Meshal, in Damascus, Syria, on behalf of the Shalit family.
In the meeting with Mr. Meshal, the Norwegian envoy requested that either a Norwegian official or a representative of the Red Cross be allowed to visit Corporal Shalit in Gaza.
The request was denied, but Mr. Meshal said the Israeli soldier was in good health and promised to help produce a sign of life.
Mr. Shalit and Mr. Beilin both refused to comment on the meetings because of the delicacy of the case, but the individual involved in the mediation efforts and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman have confirmed the details."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.html?ref=world