Israeli hopes had been high that Hamas leader-in-exile Khalid Mash’al’s scheduled participation in talks in Cairo signaled success in Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s efforts to broker a deal that would see captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit repatriated. But Mash’al’s failure to show on Saturday had the reverse effect: senior Israeli military officials now believe no deal is imminent. Nevertheless, one of the groups responsible for Shalit’s the kidnapping said on Saturday that a resolution of the matter was due in "a number of days." A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said on Saturday that the three terrorist organizations that participated in the kidnapping had accepted the Egyptian proposal to swap Shalit for Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. But a spokesman for Hamas – one of the three groups – said the PRC statement was premature. Shalit has been held since June 25.