Israel will not free the Palestinians today because of dispute over names of the released

The process of the release of 151 Palestinian prisoners, due to be made today, was obstructed after the Palestinian Authority and Israel held different views over the names of the prisoners. Israeli Interior Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said the Palestinian prisoners would not be released today.

In an interview with Israeli TV's Channel 1, the Israeli minister added that the release should be made "on the ground of mutual understanding and because we want to proceed on the ground of confidence. We want to listen what the other side would like to say."

The Palestinian side only learned on Wednesday the names of those who were selected to be freed out of the Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians accused Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak of violating the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement by prohibiting 47 prisoners who are serving longer prison sentences from having freedom.

According to the agreement which was signed on September 5, the prisoners who will be freed should be among those who committed violations before the Oslo agreement in 1993 officially ended the military operations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.