Israel to release prisoners this week, says Olmert
munaeem | 16 July, 2007 20:41
Ron Bousso
AFP
July 16, 2007
AFP
July 16, 2007
 |
| PROMISE: Israel's PM Ehud Olmert (L) meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem July 16. Olmert met Abbas Monday and promised to speed the release of 250 prisoners in a bid to shore up his West Bank administration against rival Hamas Islamists. (REUTERS) |
JERUSALEM -- Israel plans to release 250 Palestinian prisoners by the end of the week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the two leaders met in Jerusalem Monday.
The pair held discussions for an hour in the presence of aides and then for nearly an hour one-on-one, in their second meeting since fighters loyal to Abbas were overrun in Gaza by Islamist Hamas a month ago.
The prisoners, the vast majority of them from Abbas' Fatah party, are slated to be released Friday following Israel's pledge to free them as a goodwill gesture to Abbas, a senior Israeli official quoted Olmert as saying.
"The ministerial committee will convene tomorrow to go over the list of 250 prisoners, which has been drawn up by the Israeli security services, and once it is approved, the prisoners will be released Friday unless there are legal steps taken against the release," the official said.
But while welcoming the release, the Palestinians said that the freeing of 250 prisoners out of the more than 11,000 currently held in Israeli jails was not enough.
"The president demanded that political leaders be included among them," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters in Ramallah after the encounter, the sixth official meeting since Olmert took office in May 2006.
The prisoners include 11 minors, with the rest adults who have at least a year left to serve in their sentence, and all will have to sign a "commitment not to be involved in terror," the official said.
The prisoner release was one of a series of moves undertaken by Israel to boost Abbas since the Gaza takeover by Hamas, a group pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Olmert insisted that Abbas, who has ruled out dialogue with Hamas in the wake of the bloody Gaza takeover, not re-engage with the Islamists, saying that this "means blowing up the current peace efforts."
Other recent Israeli steps have also included a pledge to take off wanted lists nearly 190 militants who had promised not to wage anti-Israel attacks and allowing veteran Palestinian nationalist leader Nayef Hawatmeh to enter the West Bank for the first time in 40 years.
Israel has also unblocked part of Palestinian custom duties that it has withheld for more than a year after Hamas came to power.
The Palestinians, however, have insisted that talks between the two sides focus on long-term issues, like borders, instead of gestures.
"The president wants his meetings with the Israeli prime minister to focus on political negotiations, the Arab initiative" and steps toward establishing the Palestinians' long-promised state, Erekat said.
Ahead of the meeting, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Israel that it had to be willing to discuss substantive issues with the Palestinians if the stalled Middle East peace process were to move ahead.
"To give confidence to the Palestinians in the peace process, you have to deal with long-term and short-term issues at the same time," the respected economist said in an interview with the Ha'aretz newspaper, excerpts of which were published Monday.
Fayyad said that although recent gestures by Israel were important, it would be a "pathological" mistake to focus talks on these issues exclusively.
Monday's meeting came ahead of an expected statement by US President George W. Bush, in which he is due to outline new economic and diplomatic support for Abbas and the Fayyad government.
"And he's going to talk about what we can do to support President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad in their efforts to build now a democratic and effective Palestinian state," National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said Sunday.
The pair held discussions for an hour in the presence of aides and then for nearly an hour one-on-one, in their second meeting since fighters loyal to Abbas were overrun in Gaza by Islamist Hamas a month ago.
The prisoners, the vast majority of them from Abbas' Fatah party, are slated to be released Friday following Israel's pledge to free them as a goodwill gesture to Abbas, a senior Israeli official quoted Olmert as saying.
"The ministerial committee will convene tomorrow to go over the list of 250 prisoners, which has been drawn up by the Israeli security services, and once it is approved, the prisoners will be released Friday unless there are legal steps taken against the release," the official said.
But while welcoming the release, the Palestinians said that the freeing of 250 prisoners out of the more than 11,000 currently held in Israeli jails was not enough.
"The president demanded that political leaders be included among them," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters in Ramallah after the encounter, the sixth official meeting since Olmert took office in May 2006.
The prisoners include 11 minors, with the rest adults who have at least a year left to serve in their sentence, and all will have to sign a "commitment not to be involved in terror," the official said.
The prisoner release was one of a series of moves undertaken by Israel to boost Abbas since the Gaza takeover by Hamas, a group pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Olmert insisted that Abbas, who has ruled out dialogue with Hamas in the wake of the bloody Gaza takeover, not re-engage with the Islamists, saying that this "means blowing up the current peace efforts."
Other recent Israeli steps have also included a pledge to take off wanted lists nearly 190 militants who had promised not to wage anti-Israel attacks and allowing veteran Palestinian nationalist leader Nayef Hawatmeh to enter the West Bank for the first time in 40 years.
Israel has also unblocked part of Palestinian custom duties that it has withheld for more than a year after Hamas came to power.
The Palestinians, however, have insisted that talks between the two sides focus on long-term issues, like borders, instead of gestures.
"The president wants his meetings with the Israeli prime minister to focus on political negotiations, the Arab initiative" and steps toward establishing the Palestinians' long-promised state, Erekat said.
Ahead of the meeting, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Israel that it had to be willing to discuss substantive issues with the Palestinians if the stalled Middle East peace process were to move ahead.
"To give confidence to the Palestinians in the peace process, you have to deal with long-term and short-term issues at the same time," the respected economist said in an interview with the Ha'aretz newspaper, excerpts of which were published Monday.
Fayyad said that although recent gestures by Israel were important, it would be a "pathological" mistake to focus talks on these issues exclusively.
Monday's meeting came ahead of an expected statement by US President George W. Bush, in which he is due to outline new economic and diplomatic support for Abbas and the Fayyad government.
"And he's going to talk about what we can do to support President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad in their efforts to build now a democratic and effective Palestinian state," National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said Sunday.
via metimes.com
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