Israel announces prisoner release

[maddezmom]

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday he will release 250 Fatah members from Israeli prisons in a goodwill gesture aimed at boosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas' victory in Gaza.

Olmert made the announcement at a summit with Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan in this Red Sea resort that the Arabs and Palestinians are hoping can push forward the peace process and strengthen Abbas' hand.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_summit;_ylt=Akn_50WmzNfAL7WaONu5KwELewgF

[Eugene]

1. Olmert at Sharm summit: Israel to free 250 Fatah prisoners

Source: Haaretz and Associated Press

Last update - 20:56 25/06/2007

Olmert at Sharm summit: Israel to free 250 Fatah prisoners
By Aluf Benn, Barak Ravid, and Yoav Stern,
Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that he would seek
cabinet approval for the release of 250 Fatah prisoners held
in Israeli jails, as part of a package of steps aimed at
strengthening Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert had previously ruled out freeing Palestinian prisoners
as long as Israel Defense Forces corporal Gilad Shalit remains
in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the end of a four-way summit with Abbas, Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, Olmert
said only prisoners who Israel does not hold directly responsible
for Israeli deaths would be released.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/874779.html

[Scurrilous]

2. Cabinet to delay vote on plan to release Palestinian prisoners

<snip>

"The cabinet will not vote Sunday on a deal to release 250 Palestinian prisoners, as the government had announced it would at a regional summit earlier this week, a government official said Saturday.

The release was intended to boost moderate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas after Islamic Hamas militants violently seized control over the Gaza strip earlier this month. Palestinian officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to release 250 Palestinian prisoners at a high-profile meeting in Egypt with Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan. Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin had said the release would come up for a vote on Sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting.

On Saturday, another government official said Israel still intended to go through with the release, but the cabinet would not vote on it yet, as the plan is still being hammered out and lists of prisoners being formulated."

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/876662.html

[barb162]

3. "...Israel still intended to go through with the release..."

These things take time.