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Palestinian mother awaits the release of her son. (AP file)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 4, 2005 |
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A senior Palestinian negotiator on Friday called Israel's planned Palestinian prisoner release insufficient, saying it failed to meet the expectations of the Palestinian people ahead of a crucial summit between the sides.
Israel on Thursday approved the release of 900 of an estimated 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, a gesture meant to build goodwill at the summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, set for Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, on Tuesday.
Haim Ramon, a member of Israel's security Cabinet, said the prisoners to be released have sentences ranging from under a year to three or four years, and that none was involved in attacks on Israelis.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erakat criticized Israel's offer, saying it was only freeing people serving relatively short terms.
"We want them to release those who spent more than 20 years in jail," he said. "It is not what we want. It is not what our people want."
"This is an insulting proposal," a Palestinian involved in the meeting said. "You're hurting Abu Mazen [Abbas] rather than coming toward him. You need to release all 237 prisoners jailed before the [1993] Oslo Accords. That's what's important to us -- not the 900 you are proposing. You aren't coordinating the names with us."
PA negotiator and Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, who also said the numbers were too small, lashed out at Israel for not coordinating the move in advance with the PA.
"The meeting we had today with [Sharon adviser Dov] Weisglass wasn't good," he said. "The Israelis don't realize that the issue of the prisoners is very important for us. It's even more important than the withdrawal from some cities in the West Bank."
The new Palestinian leadership sees prisoner releases as key to bolstering domestic support as Abbas proceeds with peace efforts.
Many Palestinian officials say Sharon's refusal to sanction a far-reaching prisoner release during Abbas' short-lived term as Palestinian prime minister in 2003 led to his downfall.
The crisis over the prisoner releases was largely predictable, Haaretz noted, "since this is an ideal time for the Palestinians to demand additional Israeli concessions: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives Sunday, and a four-way summit between Sharon, Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan is scheduled for Tuesday. Both Rice and the summit participants are expected to press Israel on its gestures." Rice's attendance at the summit is uncertain.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Ramon and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Israel should be open to releasing killers, and Sharon agreed in the event that the terrorist murderers had served more than twenty years in prison. However, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom opposed releasing prisoners with "blood on their hands" -- personally responsible for the deaths of Israelis.
Israeli government spokesman Dore Gold said the prisoner release was part of an overall Israeli effort to jump start political dialogue with the Palestinians, and called on the Palestinian leadership to move more decisively against militant groups.
"Now it remains to be seen whether the Palestinians will follow through (on the Israeli gesture) by making a full effort in the security sphere," he said.
As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met Thursday to prepare an agenda for next week's summit, differences emerged over what each side hopes to achieve. Palestinians want the summit to be the beginning of a new political process to end the conflict, while Israel wants only to deal with security issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told senior Cabinet ministers Thursday it is still premature to talk about restarting peace talks within the framework of the U.S.-backed "road map" for Middle East peace.
"We are not talking about peace now, and not about the road map, but rather about phases that come before the implementation of the road map," ministers quoted Sharon as saying.
Israeli officials say the prime minister wants to put off peace talks for fear they would interfere with his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer.
Despite the friction, the Egypt meeting is expected to produce a joint cease-fire declaration formally ending more than four years of bloodshed.
A joint declaration to end the violence is one of the first requirements in the road map, launched at a summit in Jordan in 2003 but quickly stalled by violence.
The road map calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state this year, though U.S. President George W. Bush has termed that timetable unrealistic.
The AP contributed to this report.
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