Palestinian demonstrators call for prisoner release
AFP
Date: 05-28-05
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli cabinet is set to decide Sunday on the release of another 400 Palestinian prisoners, public radio reported, as Palestinians staged demonstrations in Hebron to call for their release.
"The prisoners are our honour," "Free the prisoners," and "400 freed prisoners is not enough" read banners carried by dozens of mostly female demonstrators who gathered in the centre of the flashpoint West Bank city.
On a trip to the United States, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged Tuesday to release the prisoners to "help" Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, who held talks this week with US President George W. Bush.
Five hundred prisoners were released soon after a February peace summit between Abbas and Sharon in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh but the promised second batch of 400 releases has yet to materialize.
Israeli radio reported Saturday that none of the prisoners likely to be freed was a killer, and that most had already served two-thirds of their sentences.
General Amos Gilda, advisor to Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, vowed that those accused of orchestrating the 2001 assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi will not be released.
"Clearly, all Palestinian demands in this regard cannot be considered. They (who orchestrated the assassination) must remain in prison," Gilad said.
Zeevi was killed in October 2001 at a hotel in east Jerusalem by an agent of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), allegedly in retaliation for the death of PFLP chief Abu Ali Mustapha, who was killed by the Israeli army in Ramallah two months earlier.
Palestinian cabinet minister Ghassan Khatib had described Sharon's announcement this week as "pure propaganda" given that Israel had already pledged to release the inmates.
About 7,000 Palestinians are believed to be held in Israeli prisons.
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