By Xinhua
Ramallah : Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed on Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert had agreed on releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Erekat, a long-time confident of Abbas, told reporters at the end of Abbas-Olmert meeting held in Jerusalem.
According to Erekat, the release of Palestinian prisoners will occur at the first week of the Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Thursday.
But a joint statement after the meeting said that Abbas, duringthe meeting, asked Olmert to release Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture for the holiday of Ramadan.
In response, Olmert agreed to propose Abbas’ request to his cabinet, but the two sides did not discuss the number of prisoners to be released, said the statement.
Erekat said that in addition to agreeing on the release of prisoners, the two leaders also agreed to resolve the problem of deportees.
In 2002, the Israeli army deported 29 Palestinians, who were then held inside the Church of Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for 40 days. Of the 29, 13 were deported to Europe and the other 16 were deported to the Gaza Strip.
“A new group of prisoners would be released at the first week of Ramadan, and deportees would go to Bethlehem after their problems were resolved in the upcoming meetings,” Erekat told reporters.
Abbas and Olmert had also agreed on activating the joint Israeli-Palestinian ministerial committees, said Erekat, adding that Abbas urged Olmert to increase more humanitarian aid into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
“President Abbas had also asked the Israeli side to ease restrictions on Gaza Strip people’s traveling through crossings, mainly for pilgrimage,” said Erekat.
According to Erekat, both had also agreed to support the upcoming peace conference slated for this fall.
On July 16, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed to held an international conference this autumn, which would bring together Israel, the Palestinians and some neighboring Arab states, to help resume the stalled Middle East peace talks.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of the Palestinian caretaker government Salam Fayyad, who attended the meeting for the first time, called on the Israeli side for more security cooperation. And Israel promised to study Fayyad’s request, Erekat said.
Erekat added that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised to hand the Ramallah-based Palestinian government a map of the Israeli army barriers that Israel promised to remove in the West Bank next week.
Israeli officials believed that Fayyad’s presence was significant because it showed that the meetings were beginning to concentrate on the governing aspect of a Palestinian state, ratherthan just the idea of having one.
David Baker, official from Olmert’s office, told Xinhua that the meeting was very “productive” and “positive.”
According to Baker, Olmert and Abbas are scheduled to meet again in two weeks, before Abbas attends the United Nations General Assembly Session on Sept. 25.
Israeli media reported that Abbas and Olmert also agreed to form joint working teams to discuss the details of establishing a Palestinian state beside Israel.
The Israeli team would include 4 senior government officials, with two from Olmert’s office, one from the Israeli foreign ministry and one from Barak’s office, according to Israeli reports.