Islamic Hamas movement on Sunday said it welcomes a potential offer by France aimed at brokering a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians.

Osama al-Muzini, a Hamas official in Gaza, said "the door is open before the resumption of the negotiations," referring to reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to continue his efforts to release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006.

But al-Muzini added that Hamas was not interested in the freedom of the soldier at the expense of the movement's prisoners. He also said Hamas can accept any mediation by France, Turkey, Germany or the current mediator Egypt.

Israel accuses Hamas of foiling the latest round of talks to free Shalit by insisting on its list of the first batch of 450 prisoners that would be freed.

However, al-Muzini said the talks will resume later despite the current suspension, adding that "only the first round of talks has failed."