Israel Monday freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians – including the Jewish state's longest serving Palestinian prisoner – in a goodwill gesture made just hours before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to begin her latest peace mission to the region. The prisoners returned to cheers and applause as they entered Palestinian-controlled territory, before heading to a massive rally attended by thousands of people at the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas. The prisoners arrived in Ramallah after being released by prison guards at an Israeli military checkpoint near Jerusalem. The prisoners, some waving black-and-white checkered keffiyeh headdresses as they stepped off Israeli buses, kissed the ground before boarding Palestinian vehicles. Israel said the release was a gesture meant to bolster Abbas and his western-leaning administration and give a boost to the slow-moving peace talks with the moderate Palestinian leader. “It's not easy for Israel to release prisoners. Some of the individuals being released today are guilty of direct involvement in the murder of innocent civilians,” government spokesman Mark Regev said. “But we understand the importance of the prisoner issue for Palestinian society...We believe this action can support the negotiation process and create goodwill.” The fate of the roughly 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails is highly emotional, since many Palestinians either know someone in prison or have served time themselves. Abbas, who is struggling to show his people the fruits of the peace talks, has repeatedly urged Israel to carry out a large-scale release. “We will not rest until the prisoners are freed and the jails are empty,” Abbas told the cheering crowd in Ramallah. He mentioned Marwan Barghouti, a West Bank leader of Abbas' Fatah movement, who is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison but is widely seen as a future Palestinian president. Abbas also singled out Ahmed Saadat, jailed leader of small radical faction suspected in the 2001 assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister and the imprisoned Palestinian parliament speaker Aziz Duaik of Fatah's rival, the radical Islamic Hamas movement. “He is our brother and we must struggle to free all prisoners,” Abbas said. Among the 198 Palestinians freed Monday was Said Al-Atba, who has served 32 years of a life sentence for carrying out a deadly market bombing three decades ago. Al-Atba, 57, was the longest serving inmate held by Israel and he is widely seen by the Palestinian public as a symbol of all the prisoners.
