Israel frees 400 Palestinian prisoners

BETUNIA, West Bank – Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners yesterday in a long-delayed gesture it said was meant to bolster moderate President Mahmoud Abbas but which Palestinians said was not enough to advance peacemaking.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon acted under US pressure to help strengthen Abbas, who faces a Hamas challenge that could undermine Israel’s plans for evacuating Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip starting in August. Smiling prisoners flashed V-for-victory signs to cheering relatives as they stepped down from buses that carried them from Israeli jails to West Bank checkpoints.Some knelt in prayer.Others kissed the ground.A few waved Palestinian flags.But jubilant homecomings were tempered by Palestinian complaints that the mass release did not go far enough because it excluded longer-serving inmates.Palestinians demand amnesty for all 8 000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.”I am happy to be free but thousands of others are still behind bars,” Yousef Habas, 31, a militant who spent six months in jail, said as he arrived at Betunia checkpoint near Ramallah.The release, first pledged by Israel when Sharon and Abbas declared a truce in February 8 talks, followed the announcement on Wednesday of a second summit between the two leaders planned for June 21 aimed at boosting deadlocked peace moves.A first batch of 500 prisoners went free on Feb.21.But the promised release of 400 more was suspended after a suicide bomber killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing on Feb.25.Sharon has said Thursday’s release was meant to boost Abbas, who was elected in January to succeed Yasser Arafat and has coaxed armed factions into a fragile truce that has sharply reduced violence.Israel wants Abbas to keep militants reined in during the Gaza pullout, which international mediators hope will serve as a springboard for new peace talks under a US-backed “roadmap”.The freeing of the prisoners also comes before Palestinian parliamentary elections tentatively set for July in which Abbas’s ruling Fatah party will face strong competition from Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction.Israel’s cabinet gave the green light for Thursday’s release under prodding from the United States.US President George W.Bush met Abbas in Washington last week.Israel says none of the freed men were convicted of killing or hurting Israelis.Some were jailed on charges of belonging to militant groups, possessing weapons or plotting attacks.- Nampa-ReutersSmiling prisoners flashed V-for-victory signs to cheering relatives as they stepped down from buses that carried them from Israeli jails to West Bank checkpoints.Some knelt in prayer.Others kissed the ground.A few waved Palestinian flags.But jubilant homecomings were tempered by Palestinian complaints that the mass release did not go far enough because it excluded longer-serving inmates.Palestinians demand amnesty for all 8 000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.”I am happy to be free but thousands of others are still behind bars,” Yousef Habas, 31, a militant who spent six months in jail, said as he arrived at Betunia checkpoint near Ramallah.The release, first pledged by Israel when Sharon and Abbas declared a truce in February 8 talks, followed the announcement on Wednesday of a second summit between the two leaders planned for June 21 aimed at boosting deadlocked peace moves.A first batch of 500 prisoners went free on Feb.21.But the promised release of 400 more was suspended after a suicide bomber killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing on Feb.25.Sharon has said Thursday’s release was meant to boost Abbas, who was elected in January to succeed Yasser Arafat and has coaxed armed factions into a fragile truce that has sharply reduced violence.Israel wants Abbas to keep militants reined in during the Gaza pullout, which international mediators hope will serve as a springboard for new peace talks under a US-backed “roadmap”.The freeing of the prisoners also comes before Palestinian parliamentary elections tentatively set for July in which Abbas’s ruling Fatah party will face strong competition from Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction.Israel’s cabinet gave the green light for Thursday’s release under prodding from the United States.US President George W.Bush met Abbas in Washington last week.Israel says none of the freed men were convicted of killing or hurting Israelis.Some were jailed on charges of belonging to militant groups, possessing weapons or plotting attacks.- Nampa-Reuters