President Shimon Peres
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Prime Minister Olmert
Photo: AFP
Peres to pardon 26 security prisoners
President to pardon 26 out of 90 Palestinian prisoners Israel releasing as a goodwill gesture to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Release of remaining 64 prisoners hinges on special pardon by IDF command chiefs because they were sentenced by military courts
President Shimon Peres is set to pardon 26 out of the 90 Palestinian security prisoners to be freed by Israel
as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians in the holy month of Ramadan.
The 26 prisoners were sentenced in Israeli civil courts and their release requires the president's pardon.
The release of the remaining 64 prisoners hinges on a special pardon by IDF command chiefs because they were sentenced by military courts.
Godwill Gesture
Proposal to free prisoners as Ramadan goodwill gesture to Abbas okayed by cabinet, still pending final approval by ministerial committee
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told representatives of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) on Sunday that he hoped the number of Palestinian security prisoners would dwindle as peace talks with the Palestinian Authority moved forward.
"I hope and I am making great efforts so that your prisoners fall in numbers, especially security prisoners. And I am not just speaking about the 90 Palestinian prisoners we are set to release tomorrow," Olmert told IPS Commissioner Benny Kaniak.
"I hope the talks will lead us and the Palestinian to a common path and a situation where one day our prisoners will be a little less crowded with security prisoners who are trying to harm our Israeli citizens," Olmert added.
Most of the prisoners Israel agreed to release would be handed over to Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank, but the fate of 29 prisoners from the Gaza Strip remains unclear.
Earlier this month, Israel declared the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip a hostile entity and the government refuses to have any direct contact with Hamas, which it labels a terror group.
The sentences of most of the 90 prisoners, none of whom is affiliated with Hamas, were set to expire in 2012, the IPS said Sunday.
Olmert hoped that the timing of Sukkot with Ramadan would inspire Abbas and himself to reach far-reaching understandings when they meet on Tuesday.
