MIDDLE EAST:IN AN attempt to strengthen Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and bolster faltering peace talks, the Israeli cabinet decided yesterday to release approximately 200 Palestinian prisoners, including two who were involved in deadly attacks on Israelis.
Foreign minister Tzipi Livni said the release of prisoners was meant to send a message that Palestinians who engaged in dialogue with Israel, such as Mr Abbas, "can be boosted through dialogue and not through the use of force".
Israel is hoping the move will help Mr Abbas, who has been at loggerheads with the more radical Hamas ever since the Islamic movement vanquished his Fatah party in Gaza in June 2007 and seized control of the coastal strip.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mr Abbas, welcomed the decision but said the Palestinian president "had requested the release of very large numbers of prisoners". There are currently around 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza said the decision to release only Fatah members was "an attempt to strengthen Palestinian internal divisions".
The Islamic movement is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who has been held captive by the group in Gaza for over two years.
The list of 200 will include two long-serving prisoners who were involved in attacks in which Israelis were killed in the 1970s.
Within Israel there is strong opposition to the release of prisoners with "blood on their hands" - the term Israelis use to describe those Palestinians who have been involved in deadly attacks.
The prisoner release is expected to take place in about a week.
Ms Livni, who is favourite to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister, said Israel wanted to show Palestinians that talking, not fighting, was better for them.