Israel will release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners by the end of August as a "goodwill gesture" to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Palestianian leader Wednesday when the two met in Jerusalem.
The Palestinians have reportedly requested that Israel release Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmed Saadat and parliament speaker Aziz Dweik of Hamas. The release of these prisoners, the Palestinians said, would strengthen Abbas and boost his popularity. However, Israel refused to guarantee the identity of the prisoners to be freed.
Though Israel would also not provide the number of prisoners expected to be released, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed that Olmert had promised to free 150 people.
Olmert's pledge to release prisoners was amde during July's Mediterranean conference in Paris. Diplomatic officials said then that the promise was made so that Abbas would also get credit on the Palestinian street for winning the release of Palestinian prisoners, following Israel's promise to release prisoners to Hizbullah in the deal for Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
One Israeli official said that Olmert told Abbas, who raised the issue, that the numbers would go 'above and beyond' what was being discussed in the other prisoner swaps. At the end of Wednesday's discussions, the two leaders agreed to meet again soon, although a specific date was not given.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also took part in the meeting, as did Palestinian official Ahmad Qurei. The two are the respective heads of the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams.
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