Last update - 00:00 02/01/2008
Wife of jailed Fatah leader: Release is closer than ever
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti's wife, attorney Fadwa Barghouti, told a Nazareth radio station on Wednesday that her husband's release from an Israeli prison is closer than ever.
She maintained that although her husband's release has been debated for years, this time it can carefully be said that he will be released soon.
Fadwa Barghouti refused to give more information, or reveal her source. "I am inclined to only say this. I trust whoever is leading the negotiations on the Palestinian side, and everyone knows that Marwan's release is necessary in light of the crisis the Palestinians are living in," she said.
Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for involvement in the murders of four Israelis and a Greek monk, is seen as the most popular Palestinian leader in the territories, and is widely regarded as the only figure able to unify clashing Palestinian factions, rein in militants, and get peacemaking with Israel moving again.
Fadwa Barghouti also told the radio station that she recently returned from a visit in Lebanon, where she met with Samir Kuntar's family. "I passed on a message of unity and support from the wives and familes of Palestinian prisoners to the Kuntar family, and I can say that Kuntar's release is closer than ever."
Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese terrorist held for the 1979 murder of a family in Nahariya, is currently serving four life sentences in an Israeli prison.
Israel has in the past conditioned Kuntar's release on reliable information regarding the fate of Arad, whose plane went down over Lebanon 21 years ago, on 0ctober 16, 1986.
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