Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office denied late Saturday night that <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
The move by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, announced Saturday evening by PA officials, would follow the removal last month of 178 members of Abbas's Fatah faction from
According to PA officials, the terrorists who received amnesty this weekend allegedly were not guilty of direct involvement in the murder of Jews, but in some cases did participate in planning terror operations that led to the killings.
Among those released in the previous amnesty deal were senior members of the Fatah-sponsored Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization which has been responsible for a majority of murderous attacks against
As before, those who received amnesty were required to hand in their weapons and renounce violence. "The wanted Palestinians mentioned in the list are to surrender their weapons to Palestinian security departments and sign documents and signs documents saying they will not launch on attacks on Israel," said PA Preventive Security Forces chief Akram Rajoub. Israeli officials would not confirm or deny the report.