By Xinhua
Ramallah : Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials Wednesday called on Israel to free senior Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti before US-sponsored Annapolis peace summit slated for late this month.
Ashraf al-Ajrami, minister of prisoners’ affairs in Palestinian caretaker government in the West Bank, said in a statement that the Palestinian side would ask Israel to selectively free some prisoners, including al-Barghouti.
Al-Barghouti, a senior leader and lawmaker, was detained by Israel in Ramallah in 2002. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after an Israeli military court convicted him of ordering attacks on Israel that killed Israelis.
“The issue of releasing al-Barghouti is becoming more essential after overt Israeli voices in the Israeli leadership to release him have recently mounted,” al-Ajrami said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had earlier announced that Israel is mulling the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as a gesture of goodwill to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before Annapolis peace summit.
According to official figures, there are 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were detained after the Intifada, or uprising against Israel, in late September 2000.
“We had recently held contacts with the Israelis and the Americans to explain to them the necessity of releasing a large number of prisoners,” said al-Ajrami.