By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 9 (Reuters) - Marwan Barghouthi, a Palestinian uprising leader jailed by Israel, is included on a list of prisoners that Hamas wants freed in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier, a Palestinian official said on Monday.

Islamist Hamas, which heads the Palestinian coalition government and whose gunmen were involved in abducting Corporal Gilad Shalit to the Gaza Strip last June, said on Sunday that it had passed its release demands to Israel via Egyptian mediators.

Hamas did not give numbers or names for prisoners it wants freed in return for Shalit. But a Palestinian cabinet minister confirmed Israeli media reports that Barghouthi, a legislator serving five life prison terms for murder, is on the roster.

"The list includes Marwan Barghouthi," Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi, a relative of the inmate, told Reuters.

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 newspaper interview whether Barghouthi should expect an early release as part of a prisoner exchange, responded: "No."

Fatah is now junior partner in the Hamas-led government.

An exchange deal, after months of diplomatic deadlock, could be key to any progress in talks that Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah have agreed to hold on a biweekly basis at the urging of the United States.

For Palestinians, freedom for brethren in Israeli jails -- especially long-serving prisoners -- is a highly emotive issue. Olmert has accused Abbas of failing to deliver on promises to secure Shalit's release.

Sources in Olmert's office said Israel had received Hamas's prisoner roster and would review its long-held policy ruling out the release of Palestinians jailed for lethal attacks.

Israeli media reported that Hamas wants some 1,300 prisoners freed. Mustafa Barghouthi said he did not know how many names are on the list.

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