Gov`t source: Israel plans to release 100 Fatah prisoners for Ramadan - Haaretz

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Last update - 13:46 04/09/2007

Gov`t source: Israel plans to release 100 Fatah prisoners for Ramadan

By The Associated Press

Israel intends to release from prison 100 members of Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction as part of U.S.-backed efforts to bolster him, an Israeli government source said on Tuesday.

"The idea is to do it before Ramadan," said the source, referring to the Muslim fasting month that begins with the sighting of the new moon in about a week.

Olmert's office declined to comment.

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The source said the 100 Fatah members set to go free come from the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized by force in June.

The 100 prisoners, the source said, have "no blood on their hands" and at least one year left on their sentences and would be released on condition they signed a document promising not to be involved in violence.

Israel freed more than 250 Palestinian prisoners, mostly Fatah members, on July 20, in a bid to boost Abbas, who is engaged with Olmert in preparations for a U.S. proposed Middle East conference expected in November.

The prisoners issue is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their 11,000 brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters for freedom from Israeli occupation in the West Bank.

Over 150 Gazans allowed to leave strip for work or study abroad

In another gesture towards the Palestinians, Israel allowed more than 150 Palestinians out of Gaza on Tuesday to resume lives abroad, the largest group permitted to leave the area since Hamas' takeover, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Following the Hamas seizure in June, Israel and Egypt clamped a closure on the territory, preventing thousands of people from leaving.

More than 4,000 Palestinians with overseas work and study permits are seeking to leave and stand to lose badly needed jobs and academic credits unless they are allowed out, Palestinian officials said.

Israel has no dealings with Hamas, so Tuesday's crossing, and those of two smaller groups previously, were coordinated between Israeli officials and Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Those allowed through Israeli territory underwent extensive security checks at Erez and were then bused under armed escort to Israel's Nitzana border crossing with Egypt, 140 kilometers (90 miles) away.

For Fatma Youssef, 22, it was her first time out of Gaza.

Monday night she held a wedding party without the groom, who lives in Cairo.

Such events are common in Gaza, where travel restrictions often prevent couples being together for their wedding celebrations. Giving a farewell glance at relatives who came to say goodbye at Erez, Youssef gripped her bus seat nervously.

"My family tells me I will be relieved to leave Gaza now because of all the troubles," she said. "But it is difficult to part with loved ones."

Her nail polish still glittering from the celebrations of the night before, she said she hopes to return with her husband, a nurse.

But for Amna Al-Shawa, coming back to Gaza is not on the agenda any time soon. For years she and her husband have lived in Cairo, but visit Gaza twice a year where their daughter studies.

This time, however, they have taken their daughter out of class and sent her to Egypt.

"I don't care about university anymore," the mother said. "We just need to recover from what happened in Gaza."

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1.	Gov`t should be working on Shalits release for the holidays	14:07	\|	x	04/09/07

2.	#1 if you truly want Shalit then talk to Hamas	18:36	\|	spyguy	04/09/07

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