By Xinhua
Ramallah : Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs, Ashraf al-Ajrami, said Saturday the planned release of a number of Palestinian prisoners by Israel was “a unilateral step.”
“All the reports about releasing Palestinian prisoners were unilateral steps and we, the Palestinian Authority (PA), have no role in this at all,” al-Ajrami told Voice of Palestine radio.
The Israeli government is expected to vote on the release of 450 prisoners upon a request from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. According to media reports, the United States might be exerting pressure on Israel to increase the number.
The Palestinians and Israel have been in talks since October to hammer out a joint document to be presented at a U.S.-sponsored peace gathering, which many expect will pave the way for future Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
The Palestinian side demands that the future talks should clearly determine the final-status issues, including control over Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and borders of the future Palestinian state.
According to al-Ajrami, the Israel negotiating team still refuses to open the issue of the prisoners in their talks with the Palestinian team.
Ahead of the U.S.-hosted peace conference at the end of this month, the Palestinians want an agreement with Israel to release Palestinian prisoners according to criteria, al-Ajrami noted.
Official statistics say there are 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, most of whom were detained after the Intifada, or uprising against Israel, in late September 2000.
Meanwhile, al-Ajrami called on Israel to free a senior Fatah leader to support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ of Fatah.
“I think the circumstances are suitable now to free the struggler Marwan al-Barghouti,” said al-Ajrami.
Al-Barghouti’s release “will form a support for Abbas and the (caretaker) government, given the stances that al-Barghouti adopts toward the political process, the government and President Abbas’ steps,” al-Ajrami explained.
Al-Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader and a 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.