Killing detracts from release of 34 prisoners

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian militant during a raid in the West Bank and temporarily blocked Gaza's main road on Thursday, angering Palestinians who accused Israel of undermining US peacemaking.

The killing in the West Bank town of Qalqilya and the almost six-hour road closure, three days after the long-blocked highway was reopened, followed attacks by militants, Israel said.

"These are acts of sabotage [by Israel] and we do not accept them," Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said.

A local branch of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a prominent militant group, said it would avenge the killing in Qalqilya.

But on a more encouraging note for peacemaking, Israel freed a senior security official and 33 other Palestinian prisoners. Colonel Suleiman Abu Mutlaq, the third-ranking commander of the Gaza Palestinian Preventive security forces, was released and allowed back into Gaza. He had been suspected by Israel of involvement in attacks on Israelis.

The Israel Army said the other 33 prisoners had served their terms.

The Palestinians regard the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as vital for the success of a three-month truce and for the US-backed "road map" to peace.

The two sides' acceptance of the road map has raised cautious optimism after 33 months of violence, but the latest problems highlighted its fragility.

- REUTERS