Abbas to free Hamas prisoners
2009-06-22 22:04
Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the release of "all" Hamas prisoners, including those held on security charges, ahead of a new round of talks aimed at solving the two-year-old Palestinian political crisis.
Azzam Ahmed, the head of the parliamentary bloc of Abbas' Fatah party charged with holding reconciliation talks with the rival Hamas movement ruling Gaza, told al-Jazeera that the release would get underway in the coming days.
The Palestinian Ma'an news agency, however, quoted sources close to Abbas as saying Hamas prisoners would only be released on "condition they do not pose a threat to general security and law and order".
Reconcile
Abbas had issued orders to re-evaluate the files of all Hamas prisoners in the West Bank and to release those who met this condition, they said.
The president's office in Ramallah was not immediately available for comment on the reports, as Abbas was away touring Middle Eastern capitals.
Hamas and Fatah representatives met in Ramallah last week as part of the ongoing attempts to reconcile between the two rival Palestinian movements, and agreed to freeing prisoners from both sides.
Abbas' Fatah-dominated security forces in the West Bank then freed about 20 Hamas members from their detention centres, but Hamas reacted angrily, calling that number not serious.
Torture
Abbas' forces also arrested about 40 more over the last few days, making Hamas furious. They threatened to stop the talks and spoke of a "revolving door" policy.
It says that about 760 of its members are held in Palestinian Authority prisons in the West Bank.
Fatah, for its part, says Hamas is holding about 1 000 of its members and supporters in prisons in Gaza.
Both sides have also accused each other of brutal treatment and torture against the prisoners.
Observers said Abbas' own security forces vehemently oppose a general release of Hamas prisoners. They have cracked down against Hamas in the West Bank, fearing it could launch a similar putsch against Abbas and his Fatah-dominated security forces as happened in Gaza two years ago.
Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to begin another round of Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks in Cairo on Friday.
The sides failed to reach a breakthrough in a series of previous rounds.
- SAPA
