Israeli Cabinet Sets Tough Terms for Releasing Jailed Palestinians
By REUTERS - NEW YORK TIMES
Filed at 9:35 a.m. ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli cabinet set tough terms on Sunday for the release of Palestinian prisoners in a move that could rattle a cease-fire declared by militants and the U.S.-backed peace plan the truce has bolstered.
``There is no way prisoners with blood on their hands will be released,'' Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his cabinet as he read from a list of terms it approved by a vote of 13-8, a senior government official said.
Under the criteria, Palestinians jailed for sending others to attack Israelis and members of militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad will remain locked up, the official said.
The number of prisoners to go free was not announced by the cabinet, but Israel Radio said 400 met the cabinet criteria. The figure falls far short of Palestinian demands for the release of all of the estimated 6,000 to 8,000 Palestinians held by Israel.
Palestinian officials declined immediate comment, saying they first wanted to see a release roster that an Israeli ministerial committee is drawing up for possible presentation to Palestinians later this week.
A major prisoner release would boost the popularity among Palestinians of their reformist Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and help shore up a three-month cease-fire that militants declared a week ago in a nearly three-year-old uprising for statehood.
But a limited release could jeopardize the truce. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, groups that have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, have said the suspension of their attacks was conditional on freedom for all Palestinian prisoners.
At least 2,130 and 760 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began.
The cabinet session was followed by talks about the prisoners between Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Security Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan.
``We will request the release of all prisoners. It is impossible to end the conflict even if one prisoner remains behind bars,'' Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Hisham Abdel-Raziq told Reuters.
FURTHER WITHDRAWALS HANG IN BALANCE
After the truce was declared, Israel released 53 Palestinian prisoners and pulled troops back from areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, confidence-building measures in the peace plan known as the ``road map.''
Mofaz and Dahlan were also expected to discuss Palestinian demands for further Israeli troop pullbacks in the West Bank, which a senior Palestinian official said would take place in the cities of Ramallah and Hebron.
But Israeli officials said such withdrawals would not happen quickly. ``These (moves) will not occur for several weeks, depending on Palestinian performance in the meantime,'' one official said.
Sharon's government has demanded that Abbas begin dismantling militant factions before it broadens the pullbacks. Abbas has sought to avoid a confrontation with militants, saying it could lead to civil war.
Palestinian sources said Abbas and Sharon would meet again on Wednesday. At talks last Tuesday, both leaders affirmed their commitment to the peace plan endorsed at a June 4 summit they attended with President Bush in Aqaba, Jordan.
The ``road map'' charts confidence-building measures leading to creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
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