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| Palestinian PM Pledges to Press for Prisoners Release |
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Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas pledged Monday to press for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. "We don't leave our prisoners subject for plundering by the years in the Israeli jails," Haneya told crowds of prisoners' families during a demonstration in Gaza. Palestinians have stepped up their voices to call for releasing prisoners after a progress was made on talks to swap the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, for about 1,300 Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, Fatah has criticized Shalit's captors, led by rival Hamas, for not including a senior Fatah official on a list of prisoners that the captors wanted to exchange. But Haneya confirmed Monday Marwan al-Barghouti, a prominent Fatah leader, was on the list that the captors handed to Israel via Egyptian mediators. Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Islamic Army captured Shalit in a cross-border raid on June 25 last year and has held him in Gaza since then. Haneya reiterated that "practical steps" to swap Shalit for the Palestinian prisoners have started. He affirmed that the government decided to respect the Egyptian mediators who demanded the Palestinians not make statements on the swap. Several factions have called on Monday for capturing more Israelis to swap them for Palestinian detainees, arguing peaceful and political means have failed to get them released. In a press release, Hamas urged all militant groups to take the initiative by their own hands to release "our prisoners by capturing Zionist soldiers." Hamas added that it was willing to free all prisoners after the failure of the "weak deals, friendly meetings and international diplomacy." Another statement issued by the PRC, which participated in capturing Shalit, urged the Hamas-led unity government to tie any truce deal with Israel to the condition of freeing the prisoners. The military wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement also called on its members to kidnap Israelis for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. "This is an open call for all our fighters to focus on kidnapping Israeli soldiers and civilians," al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a statement faxed to the press. Nonetheless, Fatah officials and Abbas' office declined to comment on the statement. "I can't react on something I have not seen," said Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator who is currently accompanying Abbas in a European tour. (Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2007) |
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