Israel approves Palestinian prisoner release
AFP
Date: 05-29-05
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli government approved the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners and declared itself ready to allow the United States to mediate a coordinated pullout from Gaza with the Palestinians.
Cabinet ministers approved the releases by 18 votes to three, nearly four months after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to free 900 detainees as part of a series of goodwill gestures at a Middle East summit.
"Israel has strong criticism of the Palestinian Authority over implementing arrangements agreed during the Sharm el-Sheikh summit... but we must strengthen the moderate elements within the Palestinian Authority and respect our commitments," said Sharon.
But the prime minister stressed that none of the 400 would "have blood on their hands" -- in other words detained for involvement in militant attacks.
Israel released 500 prisoners soon after February talks between Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, but had frozen the promised second batch of 400 in the wake of a February 25 suicide attack in Tel Aviv.
No details were initially provided on when the 400 would actually be freed although the list of names of the prisoners involved is to be published on the Internet to allow the public to appeal against their release.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat criticised what he saw as a unilateral decision that violated the spirit of the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit agreement.
The Palestinians have expressed disappointment at the number of detainees to be freed and are also pushing for the release of long-term prisoners convicted of taking part in deadly attacks.
"This decision is not enough," Erakat told AFP.
"In Sharm el-Sheikh, we agreed to establish a joint committee to change the system of releasing Palestinian prisoners, but the Israeli government today decided to release 400 on its own, without consulting us," he added.
Palestinian militant groups, which have observed a de facto truce since late January, had made their cool-down conditional on the release of all 7,000 Palestinians held in Israel and a halt to all Israeli aggression.
Following a recent spike in violence, Israel has declared itself willing to "help" shore up Abbas's credibility with militants who have slammed his failure to exact more concessions from Israel.
Two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in less than 24 hours the occupied West Bank, following an attempt knife attack against an Israeli soldier near the southern city Hebron and a shootout near Jenin, in the north.
"The Palestinian Authority is making a serious attempt to change the atmosphere and we must make our own contribution," Israeli Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra told army radio.
Most of those set for freedom have already served two-thirds of their sentences, Israeli public radio has reported.
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Danny Naveh voted against the releases, criticising Abbas for not crushing armed groups.
But following last Thursday's summit between Abbas and US President George W. Bush, a senior official said Israel was willing for the United States to mediate a coordinated withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip this summer.
"We are willing to see an American contribution to a coordinated withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," said the official in Sharon's office.
Israel has repeatedly said its plan to uproot soldiers and more than 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and four northern West Bank settlements as of mid-August, was a unilateral gesture.
On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the United States had expanded the role of its pointman for Middle East security to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians on security issues as Israel withdraws from Gaza.
General William Ward, appointed by the US State Department in February, is tasked with assisting the Palestinian Authority on security matters and was originally told not to intervene in discussions between the two parties.
The Palestinian Authority said Saturday it was recruiting 5,000 more police to help secure the Gaza Strip when Israel withdraws.
Source
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
|