By Xinhua,
Ramallah : Minister of prisoners’ affairs in the caretaker government headed by Salam Fayyad said Saturday that Israel will release 150 prisoners from its prisons on Aug. 25.
Ashraf el-Ajrami told reporters that his ministry holds intensive contacts to prepare the list of names of prisoners Israel wants to release as a goodwill gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas held talks on Wednesday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. According to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who attended the meeting, Olmert and Abbas agreed on releasing 150 prisoners.
“The Palestinian Authority is interested in releasing the biggest number of prisoners regardless of their political affiliations,” said el-Ajrami, who stressed that no peace deal would be reached with Israel without freeing the prisoners.
The PA wants Israel to include jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Sa’adat and speaker of the Hamas-dominant parliament (PLC) Aziz Dweik.
El-Ajrami said the issue of freeing Marwan Barghouti and others is still under discussions between the two sides. However, Israel is still refusing to release Barghouti, Sa’adat and Dweik.
An Israeli ministerial committee is scheduled to convene within the coming days to study the list of names presented by the Palestinian Authority and to decide the criteria of the prisoners who will be released.