MIDDLE EAST: Lawyer for Palestinian leader says Marwan Barghouthi's release from prison could happen soon

Record ID: 739168

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Lawyer for Palestinian leader says Marwan Barghouthi's release from prison could happen soon
  • Date: 17th February 2009
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (FEBRUARY 16, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS BUILDING SIGN READING "INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS" ON SIDE OF BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA19950MV0048XB13ZYWIJ48RJB
  • Story Text: Israel could release Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction ahead of any prisoner swap with Hamas, Bargouthi's lawyer said Sunday (February 15).
    Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to negotiate a last-minute deal with Hamas under which Israel would release 1,000 or more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
    To help Fatah, one idea under discussion was the possibility of releasing Barghouthi ahead of the prisoner swap with Hamas, a political source told Reuters, although he added that while it was under consideration, no decisions had been taken.

    "There will not be a Shalit deal without the release of Marwan Barghouthi. The deal is closer than ever. We think and hope it will be very, very soon, perhaps in a few days," Hader Shkirat, an attorney for Barghouthi said.
    Barghouthi is seen by many as a possible successor to Abbas, whose secular Fatah faction lost to Hamas in a 2006 election and was routed from the Gaza Strip in a June 2007 civil war between the Palestinian rivals.
    Barghouthi was sentenced by an Israeli court to five life terms after being found guilty on five counts of murder. He was arrested by Israel in the West Bank in April 2002 during a violent Palestinian uprising against Israel.
    Israel last freed some 250 Palestinian prisoners in November, all aligned with Abbas's secular Fatah faction. Israel said the release was intended as a confidence-building measure to bolster Abbas and his Fatah faction.
    Shkirat said relations between Barghouthi and Abbas were "very good" and that Abbas was regularly in touch with Barghouthi, who is being held in a prison in central Israel.
    Olmert repeated his demand of Hamas on Sunday night that Shalit should be freed as a first part of any deal with the Islamist group in a prisoner swap, opening the border crossings with Gaza and cementing a ceasefire.
    In Gaza on Monday (February 16) dozens of Palestinian women and children gathered at the International Committee of the Red Cross, to demonstrate for the release of their relatives from Israeli jails. Many held photos of sons, husbands, and fathers who are being held by Israel. Many of the women said that they hoped their family members would be included in any deal to release Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
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