OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 8 July 2003 — Palestinian Authority ministers yesterday warned their Israeli counterparts that the peace process would be damaged if members of radical groups were not freed from prison, amid further signs of a thaw in relations between the two sides.
Prisoner Affairs Minister Hisham Abdelrazeq told Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid that the release of such prisoners, which has so far been ruled out by Israel, would help strengthen the government of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. “The release of long-term prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad will help our government and strengthen it,” said Abdelrazeq.
The Israeli Cabinet narrowly approved a decision on Sunday laying the groundwork for around 350 Palestinian detainees to be freed.
But it also set strict criteria for the releases, including stipulations that none of them should have “blood on their hands” or belong to “terrorist organizations”.
The criteria effectively rules out the immediate release of members of groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad despite the agreement of the two movements to call a halt to anti-Israeli attacks.
“If the decision isn’t changed, it will have a bad effect on the process,” Abdelrazeq added. The Palestinians have insisted Israel must be prepared to release all of the estimated 6,000 prisoners currently in detention, but Lapid poured cold water on such hopes. “We will not release soldiers who participated in the war to destroy Israel,” said the Israeli minister.
Lapid met Abdelrazeq and Palestinian Justice Minister Abdelkarim Abu Salah in his Jerusalem office in what was the latest round of bilateral talks which have taken place here in recent days as a US-backed peace road map gathers momentum.
