Israel to release Palestinian prisoners during Ramadan

A spokeswomen for the Israeli prisons authority said yesterday that Israel intends to release Palestinian prisoners in few days in an initiative to show its good intentions during Ramadan, saying, "We know that there will a breakthrough, but we do not know when and how much are the prisoners, and we assume that this will be in the coming week."

Linda Minohen, the police spokeswomen, added that the Ministry of Public Security presented its recommendations to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to release the prisoners, and it is waiting for his consent, but it has refrained giving more details.

Israel has released 350 prisoners in two sets since signing the Wye River II accord, ratified in Egypt between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.