By Xinhua
Ramallah : An official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Saturday called on Palestinian militant groups to stress for releasing old prisoners in any future prisoners swap deal with Israel.
“If talks led to real exchange, the priority must be given to old prisoners, women, and the prisoners from Jerusalem and the territories which were occupied in the 1948,” said Khaleda Jarrar, a lawmaker from PFLP.
The Palestinian militant groups, mainly the Islamic Hamas, have been demanding the release of around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to children, women and senior prisoners jailed in Israel in exchange for Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Hamas and two other militant groups in a cross-border raid in Gaza in 2006.
Apart from the old, Jarrar also demanded that the Palestinian lawmakers jailed in Israel must be included in the swap. Israel holds around 40 lawmakers, most of them are Hamas members, in response to Shalit’s capturing.
Meanwhile, Jarrar said she had no information on whether PFLP’s Secretary General Ahmed Sa’dat was in the list which Hamas calls for release as part of the swap.
Israel kidnapped Sa’dat from a Palestinian prison in Jericho in2006. He was held there upon a deal between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for his alleged role in assassinating Israeli tourism minister in Jerusalem in 2001.
However, the indirect talks between the two sides have been frozen due to Israel’s refusal to the list of prisoners to be freed demanded by Hamas.