Former Fatah leader in the West Bank Marwan Barghouti is on the list of prisoners Hamas
wants to see released as part of a prisoner swap deal with Israel,
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Monday.
Haniyeh spoke during a mass rally in Gaza, in which thousands of people called for the release of the Palestinian prisoners.
| Opinion |
|
| Return Shalit at any price / Dan Shavit |
|
All arguments against Shalit deal pale in comparison to his fate |
| Full story |
|
|
|
Al-Ahmed's remarks surprised many people, in light of promises made by Hamas officials – including Khaled Mashaal – to Barghouti's family, that his name would be included on the list.
Haniyeh said during the demonstration, which was held near the Red Cross building, that "Barghouti the fighter is on the list and we await his release just like we await the release of all Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israeli prisons."
The Palestinian prime minister reiterated that all remarks made on the prisoner swap deal must be stopped, noting that the deal has entered its practical stage from the moment the list was submitted to Israel through the Egyptian mediators.
"Every country has voiced its opinion about Shalit, but who knows the names of the 11,000 Palestinian prisoners sitting in Israeli jails?" Haniyeh asked during the demonstration.
"Who even mentions them? Who mentions the suffering of their families and people? Why use such double standards when talking about humanitarian issues?"
The Palestinian prime minister added that the Egyptians would continue mediating between Hamas and Israel.
The list submitted by Hamas to Israel includes the names of 1,400 prisoners, some of them with "blood on their hands." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
has implied that he would be flexible, but made it clear that Barghouti, who was sentenced to five life sentences for the murder of Jews, would not be released.
A senior source in Fatah told Ynet that the movement did not know how to deal with the possibility that Barghouti would be released in the deal, which would in fact be "a Hamas accomplishment."
According to the source, Fatah would prefer to see Barghouti released as part of an Israeli gesture or as part of an overall diplomatic agreement.
"I am familiar with the claim that there are Fatah officials who are not interested in seeing Barghouti return to the movement's leadership, but we are mostly worried that Hamas would gain more support following the deal," he said.
According to the source, "If the Israeli government had smart people, Barghouti would be released and handed over to Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Abbas) as an Israeli gesture for the Palestinian president, who in spite of all the promises from the Israelis, has still not received a thing which could help the Palestinian people."
RSS
