Last update - 00:00 15/09/2007
PM delays Fatah prisoner release over lack of gov't support
By Reuters
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delayed a plan to release from prison scores of supporters of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, officials said Saturday.
Olmert had planned to ask the cabinet on Sunday to release more prisoners, but the item was removed from the agenda amid fears it would not garner enough support, officials said. Plans to release more prisoners have already been delayed once.
"It's not coming up tomorrow. It's been put off because there is no agreed upon list," one government official said, asking not to be named.
Prime Minister's Office spokesman David Baker said he did not have the agenda for Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Olmert told Abbas at a meeting on Monday he would ask his cabinet to approve the prisoner release as a goodwill gesture for the Ramadan fast month, which began this week, Palestinian officials said. Israel had been expected to free around 100 Fatah prisoners.
Israel has already freed more than 250 prisoners, mostly Fatah members, as part of a plan to bolster Abbas against Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June.