Israel frees prisoners
2008-08-25 18:18
Ramallah - Israel on Monday freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians - including a militant mastermind from the 1970s who became the Jewish state's longest serving Palestinian prisoner - in a goodwill gesture made hours before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's latest peace mission to the region.
The prisoners received a hero's welcome upon their return to the West Bank, where thousands of people joined celebration rallies at the headquarters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and in other towns throughout the West Bank.
"We will not rest until the prisoners are freed and the jails are empty," Abbas told the cheering crowd.
The prisoners arrived in Ramallah after being released at an Israeli military checkpoint near Jerusalem.
Among the 198 Palestinians freed was Said al-Atba, who served more than 30 years of a life sentence for masterminding a 1977 market bombing that killed one woman and wounded dozens others in central Israel. Al-Atba, 57, was the longest serving Palestinian inmate in Israel. He is widely seen by Palestinians as a symbol of all the prisoners.
His brother, Hisham, came from Saudi Arabia, where he works, to greet him. "I feel great, great joy," he said. "We had lost hope that my brother would be released because he's been in prison for 32 years."
The fate of the roughly 9 000 prisoners in Israeli jails is emotional for Palestinians, many who know somebody behind bars or who have served themselves. Abbas, who is struggling to show his people the fruits of the peace talks, has repeatedly urged Israel to carry out a large-scale release.
Support the negotiation process
"It's not easy for Israel to release prisoners. Some of the individuals being released today are guilty of direct involvement in the murder of innocent civilians," Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev said. "We believe this action can support the negotiation process and create goodwill."
Upon her arrival, Rice praised the prisoner release. "This is something that matters a lot to the Palestinians, it matters a lot to the Palestinian people and it is obviously a sign of goodwill," she said, adding that Israel and the Palestinians should both carry out more confidence building measures.
Also among those freed were a 16-year-old girl who had been jailed for trying to stab an Israeli soldier and a young mother who had been jailed since January 2007 and had been raising a baby behind bars. She was sentenced for ties to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.
Israel has released prisoners to Abbas in the past, most recently last December. But it has balked at releasing Palestinians serving time for deadly attacks. It appears to be easing its criteria following a prisoner swap last month with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Under that deal, Israel exchanged a Lebanese man convicted in a notorious triple murder for the remains of two Israeli soldiers.
Eager to bolster Abbas in his rivalry with Hamas, Israel says the latest release is meant to show the Palestinians that dialogue, not violence, is the best way to win concessions.
- AP