http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=116439&d=18&m=11&y=2008
Tuesday 18 November 2008 (21 Dhul Qa`dah 1429)
Israel to release 250 Palestinian inmates
Hisham Abu Taha I Arab News
FRIENDS IN NEED: Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert welcomes
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Jerusalem on Monday. (AFP)
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday promised to
release 250 Palestinian prisoners next month, making a goodwill gesture to the
moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank even as Israel battles
fighters in the Gaza Strip.
Olmert informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the planned
release during a 90-minute meeting that came amid a new upsurge in fighting.
In new violence, Gaza fighters fired six rockets into southern Israel,
causing no injuries but casting a pall over the talks.
The planned prisoner release would be the latest in a series of Israeli
gestures meant to bolster Abbas in his standoff with Hamas. "Prime Minister
Olmert told the Palestinian president that Israel will release 250
Fatah-aligned prisoners on the occasion of the upcoming holiday Eid Al-Adha,"
said David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman.
The prisoner issue is extremely sensitive in Palestinian society. Israel
holds more than 9,000 prisoners, and nearly every Palestinian has a relative,
friend or neighbor who has served time.
Meanwhile, Hamas yesterday slammed the meeting between Abbas and Olmert
saying it is part of a plan to eliminate the movement.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, said in a statement yesterday said
"in the meeting, Abbas will receive more dictations to liquidate the
Palestinian cause and Hamas movement."
Barhoum was referring to a Fatah-led clampdown against Hamas supporters
in the West Bank where pro-Abbas forces rule.
"Abbas has abandoned all his national obligations toward his people and
completely adhered to Zionist-American project," he added. Olmert and Abbas
relaunched peace talks a year ago with the goal of reaching a final agreement
by December 2008.
Both sides have acknowledged they will not meet this target. But the men
hope to lay the foundation for further talks after Olmert leaves office early
next year to battle corruption allegations.Elections are scheduled on Feb. 10.
While yesterday's meeting was ostensibly meant to provide an update on where
peace efforts stand, Israeli and Palestinian officials said much of the session
focused on the tensions in Gaza. Although Abbas lost control of Gaza to Hamas
in June 2007, he still claims to be the legitimate representative of the
territory.
Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza have been engaged in tit-for-tat
fighting for the past two weeks, with militants firing rockets into Israel and
Israel responding with airstrikes. Seventeen fighters have been killed, and
more than 150 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel.
Israel has closed border crossings, halting shipments of food, fuel and
basic supplies into the territory.
The closure has led to shortages of key items, and the United Nations has
been forced to halt food aid deliveries to tens of thousands of people.
- With input from agencies
<<pixel.gif>>
<<abbas18.jpg>>
