Release will prompt talks, says Peres

ISRAEL will invite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume stalled peace talks after Palestinian militants release a captured Israeli soldier, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said yesterday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier this week that Israel needed to talk with the Palestinians.

Gunmen linked to the Hamas group that rules the Palestinian Authority captured Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 in a cross-border raid. Recent reports in the Arab press said a prisoner exchange was imminent, but Israel has not confirmed this. There have been no reports on the condition of the soldier since his capture.