OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 28 July 2003 — Israel could consider the release of jailed West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said yesterday in an interview on public television.
“If the peace process continues and if we actually reach peace, we can start considering the release of political leaders such as Marwan Barghouti,” a chief of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group, Lapid said. He nevertheless ruled out Barghouti’s release in the near future, especially if the Fatah firebrand was proved “to have been involved in the killings” of Israelis.
The man widely perceived as the inspiration behind the 34-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel is accused of “heading a terrorist organization” and charged with 26 counts of murder.
The Israeli Army captured Barghouti in April 2002 in the West Bank city of Ramallah and he first appeared before an Israeli court in September 2002.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops lifted a number of roadblocks on the West Bank yesterday, as Premier Ariel Sharon’s Cabinet approved the release of some 100 Palestinian prisoners belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
The moves came shortly before Sharon left for Washington, where he is scheduled to hold talks with President George W. Bush tomorrow.
Bush is expected to press Sharon for more measures to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians, as part of the international road map peace plan which he sponsors.
Fourteen ministers voted in favor of the prisoners’ release, while nine were against.
The Israeli Army removed two roadblocks near the central West Bank city of Ramallah in the morning.
A number of other roadblocks, including one southeast of Bethlehem near the Jewish settlement of Tekoa, remained in place but were open to traffic, the army said.
Israel also issued several thousand more entry permits to Palestinian workers. About 25,000 Palestinians are now allowed to work in Israel, as opposed to nearly 23,000 before implementation of the road map.
