Top negotiator taken off talks

Israeli Government officials say the lead negotiator on a Gaza truce has been taken off the job after publicly criticising Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's handling of talks.

Officials in Olmert's office said negotiator Amos Gilad would remain in his post as head of the Defence Ministry political department but would no longer head Israel's team at Egyptian-mediated talks on a truce with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and the release of captured Israeli Sergeant Gilad Schalit.