Prisoners released ahead of fresh talks

Two groups of Palestinian security prisoners, released on Tuesday as a gesture to the Palestinians, arrived at

their designated security checkpoints into the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday morning Australia time, where they were awaiting Israeli approval to cross into Palestinian territory.

Fifteen of the prisoners were to be released to the Gaza Strip, while the remaining 11 were set to be transferred to Ramallah via the Beitunia checkpoint.

The 26 left Ayalon Prison in Ramle in black-tinted vans, where Israeli right-wing activists protesting the release tried to stop the convoy.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Erez border crossing in the Gaza Strip to greet the arriving prisoners.

The 26 prisoners are the first batch of a total of 104 that Israel has agreed to free in a four-stage nod to the Palestinians at the resumption of peace talks.

Earlier on Tuesday, a three-judge High Court panel rejected an appeal against the prisoners’ release by relatives of some of the Israelis murdered at their hands.

Hours after the release, US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians, which opened in Washington on July 30, were due to resume in Jerusalem, with further negotiations expected later in Jericho.

“I think this is an important accomplishment, one that gives hope to the Palestinian people,” Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqe told Reuters.

Speaking during a tour of the north, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the decision to release security prisoners was difficult for “the whole of the government, and for me personally”.

“I know some of the terrorists. I arrested some of them when I was commander of the Judea and Samaria Division at the start of the 1990s.

“This is definitely a heavy feeling, and especially so for the bereaved families. My heart is with them.”

The minister said a range of calculations led the Prime Minister and the government to release terrorists “with a heavy heart. If one of them goes back to terrorism, he will be returned to prison to carry out the punishment.”

THE JERUSALEM POST

<I>The AJN<P> contacted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s office last Friday seeking confirmation that he shared Carr’s view. A response was not received by print deadline on Wednesday morning.