Israel agrees to release 100 islamic militants

JERUSALEM - Israel's government approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday to free 100 Islamic militants, a step intended to boost a US-backed peace plan and help the Palestinian premier, political sources said.

They said the cabinet approved the decision in a 14-9 vote shortly before Sharon was due to leave for Washington, where he will discuss the peace "road map" with US President George W. Bush in the White House on Tuesday.

"This is a risk we are willing to take," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said before the vote.

In another gesture intended to smooth the way for Sharon's visit, troops removed a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, opening the road to about 100 villages for the first time since a Palestinian uprising for independence began.

The 100 members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups who will be released were not involved in attacks on Israelis. They will be added to a list of several hundred Palestinians slated for release this week.

Sharon had until now balked at releasing any militants but wants to improve the standing of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, under pressure from Islamic militants to secure the release of all jailed members of their groups.

Israeli political sources said a total of 600 to 650 prisoners might be released this week. "The main aim here is to strengthen Abu Mazen's standing," one source said.

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr welcomed the cabinet decision but called for more prisoners to be released.

"This is a positive step from the Israeli government and we hope that we will see more releases of further batches of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails," he said.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said all 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel should be freed.

"We reject this position and we do not consider it an initiative by the Israeli government. It is like someone is trying to throw dust in our eyes," said Mohammed al-Hindi, an Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the United States have applauded Abbas' peace efforts and refuse contact with President Yasser Arafat, whom they accuse of fomenting violence. Arafat denies the charge.

Abbas met Bush on Friday in his first visit to Washington since Arafat appointed him prime minister in April under heavy US pressure.

Palestinian officials say Abbas could face a confidence vote in parliament on his return from Washington but that he can fend off his critics if Israel implements the road map, which envisages the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

The Palestinians consider the prisoner issue a key test of Israel's commitment to peace moves after 34 months of violence.

For its part, Israel says the Palestinians are not doing enough to crack down on militants, although Abbas persuaded them to declare a three-month truce on June 29.

Israel promised on Friday to do more to ease hardships for ordinary Palestinians. On Sunday army bulldozers removed the Surda checkpoint which links Ramallah, the Palestinians' main commercial and political hub, with more than 100 villages.

Troops were to remove two more roadblocks on Sunday.

The government says further goodwill gestures will include troop withdrawals from two Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The army has already left Bethlehem and the northern Gaza Strip.

Government spokesman Avi Pazner said Israel would continue building a "separation fence" in the West Bank despite criticism from Bush, who called it a problem that would hamper efforts to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Palestinians say the fence, which slices through land east of the boundary between the West Bank and Israel, could annex terrain and prejudice prospects for a Palestinian state.

- REUTERS