MIDDLE EAST:Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday he would ask his cabinet to approve the release of more Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to western-backed president Mahmoud Abbas
"On Sunday, I will bring to the cabinet a recommendation to free Palestinian prisoners - without blood on their hands, that identify with the current Palestinian government and commit to oppose terror," Mr Olmert told members of his Kadima party.
Mr Olmert did not say how many prisoners would be freed but a government official said the number would top 100. He made the announcement hours after wrapping up talks in Israel with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
Israel will release prisoners who are members of Mr Abbas's secular Fatah faction. Officials said the goal was to bolster Mr Abbas after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June.
Mr Olmert had been expected to free 100 Fatah prisoners ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan but their release had been delayed.
Officials said the prisoners to be released would have "no blood on their hands" and at least one year left on their sentences.
They would be released on condition they signed a document promising not to be involved in violence.
Israel freed more than 250 Palestinian prisoners, mostly Fatah members, on July 20th, in a bid to boost Mr Abbas.
The prisoners issue is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their 11,000 brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters for freedom from Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
Dr Rice assured Palestinians yesterday that Washington intended a Middle East peace conference to put them firmly on the road towards statehood.
However, she gave no specifics nor any sign, after talks in the occupied West Bank with Mr Abbas and in Israel, of progress in forging a common position that would be presented to the international gathering.
Israeli and US officials insisted progress was being made on organising a substantive meeting. One said that a lack of public comment was partly to shield the process from domestic politics on both sides.
Dr Rice gave no details on who might attend the conference or whether the Israelis and the Palestinians would be able to draw up a document in time for the meeting, expected to take place in mid-November in the United States. "What kind of document comes out of these discussions is something they will have to work out," said Dr Rice, adding that she hoped it would lead to "serious negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible".
Making her sixth trip to the region this year, she told a news conference: "I will work, I know that the president and prime minister Olmert will work, and that their teams will work very aggressively, very urgently, to lay the groundwork for a successful meeting."
Mr Olmert, who has been meeting Mr Abbas regularly ahead of the conference that Dr Rice said must be "substantive", has cautioned against seeking more than a declaration of principles for establishing a Palestinian state.
But Mr Abbas has made clear he wants a deal that goes beyond previous agreements on the broad outlines of how the 60-year-old conflict, revolving around borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, can be resolved. The Palestinian leader told the news conference he wanted "an agreement with a clear timeframe" for implementation.