Fatah leader says captured soldier well

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- An official with the Palestinian organization Fatah says Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is "alive and well."

But Kadoura Farres -- attending a meeting of the Geneva Initiative in Tel Aviv -- said Wednesday that Shalit's captors regard him as a prisoner of war. They want to barter him for thousands of Palestinians being held by Israel, the newspaper Arutz Sheva reported.

The Geneva Initiative is a private Israeli-Palestinian project to work out a land-for-peace exchange. Those attending Wednesday's meeting included Israeli Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit.

Farres said he has discussed Shalit's status with Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas leader.

Shalit was captured by Hamas in June 2006.