RAMALLAH, April 14 (Reuters) - A senior Fatah official on Saturday denied reports Marwan Barghouthi, a Palestinian uprising leader jailed by Israel, was on a prisoner list that Hamas wants freed in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier. Islamist Hamas, which heads the Palestinian coalition government and whose gunmen were involved in abducting Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit to the Gaza Strip last June, said a week ago that it had passed its release demands to Israel via Egyptian mediators. Hamas declined to give details on the prisoners it wants freed for Shalit. Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi and another Palestinian cabinet minister confirmed last week Israeli media reports that Barghouthi, a legislator serving five life prison terms for murder, was on the roster. "Our information is that Marwan Barghouthi is not on the list and Fatah is not happy that he is not on the list," deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmad of Fatah told Reuters on Saturday. Ahmad said Fatah got its information "indirectly" without giving any further details. A senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named, said it was informed "by the Egyptians" that Barghouthi was not on the list. Marwan Barghouthi is a charismatic member of the formerly dominant Fatah faction, which seeks a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza, alongside Israel. Hamas, by contrast, is formally sworn to the Jewish state's destruction. Since Fatah was beaten in Palestinian elections last year by Hamas, there has been recurrent speculation -- stoked by statements from some Israeli officials -- that Barghouthi could win clemency in a bid by Israel to foster a new peace partner. But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, asked in a recent newspaper interview whether Barghouthi should expect an early release as part of a prisoner exchange, responded: "No."
