Officials: Abbas wants to keep prisoners in jail until his return from hajj

Israeli officials on Monday said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had requested that they delay the release of 230 Palestinian prisoners until he returns from a Muslim pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The officials, who acceded to Abbas' request, said the Palestinian leader wanted to be back in the West Bank to greet the freed prisoners.

But Rafiq Husseini, a top Abbas aide, said the Palestinian president had not sought any delay.

"I can assure you Abu Mazen [Abbas] doesn't want to see these people imprisoned for one single day," he said, adding that Israeli officials had not contacted his office over the delay.

The release had been set to take place on Tuesday.

Israel has said the release is a goodwill gesture to Abbas meant to coincide the Muslim feast of the sacrifice. The holiday began Monday.

On Sunday, the ministerial committee overseeing the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails approved the release of 230 prisoners as a gesture of goodwill toward the Palestinian Authority ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The cabinet last week approved a list of 250 prisoners, during its weekly meeting. Some 20 names were removed from the original list following objections by several ministers, who were opposed to releasing prisoners into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.