A Fatah leader in prison said the prisoners exchange negotiations between Hamas and Israel reached final and critical point, the Jerusalem-based al-Quds newspaper reported Wednesday.

Marwan al-Barghouti, a Fatah leader serving life sentence, said in an interview with the newspaper in his jail that he hopes "the swap to take place soon as it has entered its final, most difficult phase."

The report did not elaborate on the progress of the talks.

Al-Barghouti, 50, was arrested in Ramallah in 2002 and Israel accuses him of planning attacks that killed Israeli soldiers and civilians.

It is unclear whether Israel will free al-Barghouti in the prisoners swap, during which Hamas demands the release of nearly 1,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners in exchange of a captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2009)