No swap deal has been reached so far between the Islamist group Hamas and Israel on freeing kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday in Sharm el-Sheikh of Egypt, reported Egypt's MENA news agency.

After talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort, Abbas, when asked about his expectation of the deal, said that according to available information, talks are currently held among the parties concerned on the details of the deal, including the number of those to be set free.

He added that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is not part of the talks on the deal exchanging Shalit with Palestinian captives.

Egypt has been trying to broker a deal in which Hamas would release Shalit held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Abbas, who is visiting Egypt as a leg of his Arab tour, said his talks with Mubarak covered various issues of common interest topped by ways to push forward the stalled Middle East peace process and Egypt's efforts to realize an inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

Asked about Palestinians' stance regarding the recent statement of the European Union on the status of Jerusalem, Abbas said the statement, which was drafted by the rotating EU presidency Sweden, was important but vague on the issue of East Jerusalem, compared with the Swedish draft that had defined a state of Palestine as comprising "the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza".

The European Union on Tuesday urged Israel to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians as part of a Middle East peace agreement and make the holy city the capital of two states.

Abbas said that he also asserted in talks with Mubarak the necessity of abiding by the terms of reference that were previously agreed with the former Israeli cabinet and the former US administration, which called for full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2009)