[Montag-users] unexpected char: '&' in query string

[DL <dl....@nt...>]

I am trying to invoke montag XQueryService from SOAPscope client ..

the test query string is as follows ....

for $speech in //SPEECH[SPEAKER &= 'witch' and near(., 'fenny snake')] return $speech

however I get this fault report ... even though "&" is expressed as "&" 

    Fault 
    { 
    faultcode = soapenv:Server.7,
    faultstring = unexpected char: '&', 
    detail 
    { 
    exceptionName = montag.core.MontagSOAPFault, 
    hostname = mylocalhost 
    } 
    } 


What is the correct query syntax to use including  &   ?

...

Here is the Request in XML

<soap:Envelope
    xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
    xmlns:types="http://montag.sourceforge.net/ns/wsdl/local/types"
    xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
   <soap:Header>
        <types:username />
        <types:password />
     </soap:Header>
   -<soap:Body>
      <types:query>
         <types:collection>shakespeare/plays</types:collection>
         <types:query>for $speech in //SPEECH[SPEAKER &amp;= 'witch' and near(., 
'fenny snake')] return $speech</types:query>
        </types:query>
     </soap:Body>
  </soap:Envelope>

....

Here is the Response in XML

<soapenv:Envelope
    xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
   <soapenv:Body>
      <soapenv:Fault>
         <faultcode>soapenv:Server.7</faultcode>
         <faultstring>unexpected char: '&'</faultstring>
         <detail>
            <ns1:exceptionName 
xmlns:ns1="http://xml.apache.org/axis/">montag.core.MontagSOAPFault</ns1:excepti
onName>
            <ns2:hostname 
xmlns:ns2="http://xml.apache.org/axis/">mylocalhost</ns2:hostname>
           </detail>
        </soapenv:Fault>
     </soapenv:Body>
  </soapenv:Envelope