By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent- 15/07/2006

Palestinian sources told Haaretz on Friday that the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, met secretly with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas this week in Amman to discuss the fate of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian militants and taken to Gaza nearly three weeks ago.

Diskin told Abbas that Israel would release Palestinian prisoners if a exchange deal were reached with the PA, not with Hamas, the Palestinian sources said. The two also discussed the latest developments in the violent clashes in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting was held after Jordan`s King Abdullah II sent Diskin an urgent request to visit the Jordanian capital.

King Abdullah was scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Friday in Cairo to coordinate their positions on recent developments in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Abdullah spoke on the phone to Abbas and Mubarak in relation to these issues. The king also met Thursday with Lebanese parliament member Sa`ad a-Din al-Hariri, who was visiting Aqaba.

London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al Quds al Arabi reports that Egypt deported Hamas political wing member Mohammed Nazal who visited the country. Nazal met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, and had planned several other meetings and press conferences.

Security agents came to his hotel and escorted him to the airport ensuring his departure from the country.