Israel, Palestinians to set up joint committee on prisoners
AFP
Date: 02-05-05
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel and the Palestinians are to set up a joint committee to discuss the criteria of prisoners to be released, a top Palestinian official said as both sides continued negotiations in the run-up to Tuesday's potentially breakthrough summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said the decision had been reached during late-night talks with a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, which were also attended by former Palestinian security minister Mohammed Dahlan.
"It was an in-depth meeting with some very positive ideas," Erakat told AFP, although he said no firm agreement on prisoners had yet been reached.
"The two sides agreed to set up a joint ministerial committee to discuss the criteria of prisoners to be released," he said, adding that negotiations would continue ahead of the summit between Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, the first such top-level talks in over four years.
The negotiating teams would meet again Sunday, he added.
Israel has agreed to free 900 of the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, but has stressed it would not release any detainees who "had blood on their hands".
The Palestinians are pushing Israel for a greater number and also a say in who is selected for release.
"The release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel is very important for the Palestinian people, for the relaunch of the peace process and for Fatah," said the director of Abbas's office, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, referring to his dominant faction.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said he expected a compromise to be reached in time for Tuesday's summit.
"We are ... demanding the liberation of 8,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and hope to be able to sort out the differences in this respect in 48 hours," he said.
Abbas held two rounds of talks with Fatah leaders in Gaza Saturday to brief them on "the summit, political and security questions, and the results of contacts with Israel," Abu Rudeina said.
The Palestinian leader has publicly called for an end to the armed struggle against Israel while seeking to seal a ceasefire by militant groups, earning praise for his security clampdown from leading Israeli officials.
"All our security officials believe important changes have taken place within the Palestinian Authority because it's the first time a Palestinian leader opposes terrorism," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told public radio.
"It's now up to them to prove that they are capable of implementing what they promised."
Despite the burgeoning sense of optimism, comments by Sharon late Friday underlined the fragility of the emerging rapprochement between the two sides.
"The Palestinian side hasn't done a thing except to deploy its forces in Gaza before taking significant steps in the war on terror," Sharon said Friday. On the ground, Palestinian security forces arrested three leaders of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine on suspicion of involvement in a grenade attack against Israeli troops in Gaza Thursday.
Two of them were later released, DFLP sources said, but the group nonetheless hit out at what it described as "political" arrests inspired by Israel and its US ally, and called for their release.
The Palestinian leadership has deployed more than 4,000 security personnel across the Gaza Strip with orders to prevent attacks by militant groups which are supposed to be observing an informal "cooling down" period amid the efforts for a mutual ceasefire.
Israel handed over the bodies of two Palestinians killed by its troops near the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun on Friday evening.
Imad Abu Shaluf, 25, and Mohammed al-Beheri, 20, were unarmed and had no known connection to any militant group, Palestinian sources said.
The Israeli army said they had been spotted in a closed area attempting to slip across the Gaza-Israel border.
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