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Israel begins release of 400 Palestinian prisoners
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-02 18:16

BETUNIA, West Bank - Israel began freeing 400 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday in a long-delayed gesture it said was aimed at boosting moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but which Palestinians said was insufficient.

Dozens of freed inmates stepped down from buses at a checkpoint near the Palestinian-ruled city of Ramallah along Israel's boundary with the West Bank after traveling several hours from Ketziot prison in southern Israel, witnesses said.

Waving V-for victory signs, freed prisoners knelt in prayer, kissed the ground and waved to waiting relatives.

The Israeli cabinet this week gave the green light for the long-delayed release, among confidence-building measures agreed on by Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Feb. 8 summit where they declared a ceasefire.

A first batch of 500 prisoners, most of them minor militants, went free on Feb. 21. But the release of 400 more was suspended after Islamic Jihad militants killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing on Feb. 25.

Thursday's release came amidst U.S. pressure on Israel to shore up Abbas ahead of a planned Palestinian parliamentary election in which his Fatah party will face a stiff challenge from the militant Islamic Hamas movement.

Israel, too, is keen for Abbas to assert control over the Gaza Strip, where Hamas wields considerable power, after its planned pullout from the occupied territory in August.

But Palestinians dismissed the latest prisoner release as a public relations stunt that would do little to raise Abbas's popular stature, saying Israel had refused to give them a say in who of some 8,000 inmates in total would be freed.

Palestinian officials have called for a more sweeping release of long-serving security prisoners, including militant leaders, whom many Palestinians regard as fighters for freedom from Israeli occupation.

But Israel has refused to free prisoners involved in bloody militant attacks. None of those released so far were linked to assaults that killed or injured Israelis.

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