News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Ramallah-based paper Al-Ayyam reported Tuesday that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday to release Fatah terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti as goodwill gesture, along with Popular Front Secretary General Ahmad Saadat, and Palestinian Authority Legislative Council Speaker and Hamas member Aziz al-Dweik. Barghouti is serving five life sentences for his role in the murders of Israelis in terrorist attacks. Saadat is one of those being held in connection with the assassination of Tourism Ministe Rechavam Zeevi in 2001.

The 250 prisoners to be released ahead of next month's Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha will not be aligned with Islamist movements, according to an Israeli spokesman. Palestinian Authority Minister of Prisoners Affairs Ashraf Eid al-Ajrami said that the identity of the prisoners to be freed has yet to be determined.