Israel approves Palestinian prisoner release

Israel announced the moves ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The two men were trying to break a deadlock in preparations for the summit, expected to take place next week in Annapolis, Maryland.

Israel sees the conference primarily as a ceremonial launching pad for new peace efforts, while the Palestinians want a more detailed plan for how post-conference talks will proceed.

Seeking to drum up support for the conference, Olmert is heading to Egypt on Tuesday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, his office said. Arab League members are to decide on Friday whether they will join the gathering. High-level Arab attendance is seen as crucial to its success.

With the outcome of Annapolis uncertain, Israel has been under American pressure to take steps to bolster Abbas, including a

ettlement freeze and a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners.

A settlement freeze, and a related promise Monday to dismantle tiny settlement outposts, are key Israeli commitments under the “road map,” a U.S.-backed peace plan that stalled shortly after its inception in 2003. The U.S. has been trying to revive the road map ahead of the peace conference.

At a Cabinet meeting, Olmert said Israel would not build any more settlements in the West Bank.

“Let’s be straight, we committed ourselves in the road map not to build new settlements and we will not build any,” Olmert was quoted as saying by his spokeswoman, Miri Eisin.

But he indicated there would be no end to construction in existing settlements, as required by the road map.

“We won’t choke off under any circumstances the existing settlements,” Olmert said, according to another meeting participant. He spoke on condition of anonymity under Israeli civil service guidelines.

Israel has built no new authorized settlements in nearly a decade. But it has continued to rapidly expand existing settlements to accommodate what it calls “natural growth.”

Palestinian officials reacted coolly to Olmert’s announcement.

“Either it’s a 100 percent settlement freeze or no settlement freeze. There is nothing in the middle,” said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

The Cabinet overwhelmingly approved Olmert’s proposal to release 441 prisoners. Although the release would be the largest in years, it fell short of Palestinian calls to free some 2,000 prisoners. Israel holds an estimated 9,000 Palestinian prisoners.

“We welcome the release of any prisoners,” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. “But this is not enough. We will continue demanding the release of all prisoners.”

Olmert and Abbas have been meeting frequently to lay the groundwork for the U.S. conference.

“We want to continue our talks regarding the preparation for Annapolis, and we need to hear from him (Olmert) things that will satisfy us, so we can go to Annapolis on a solid basis,” Abbas told reporters shortly before his meeting with Olmert in Jerusalem.

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