The Israeli cabinet has agreed to a limited release of Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to Egypt and the Palestinian leadership ahead of next month's Palestinian elections.
The release, which would only involve a few dozen of the 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, would only include those not involved in the killing of Israelis and those who had served most of their sentences, Israeli government spokesman Raanan Gissin admitted.
While the release was mainly a gesture of goodwill to Mubarak, "it shows also our intention to change the general atmosphere and to move forward with the (peace) process," Gissin said, adding that more prisoners could be freed in the future.
"We shall be willing to consider additional releases if we see that there is development and real steps taken by the Palestinian Authority to bring about a cessation of violence, terrorism and incitement," he said.
Palestinian officials said Israel should coordinate prisoner releases with them. "Usually, the unilateral releases have never been satisfactory," Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said.
Palestinians criticised Israel's release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners in August 2003, saying the group was too small and included no top militant leaders.
AP