July 24, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1424

TEL AVIV, July 23: The Palestinians warned on Wednesday the peace process could come to a dead end after an Israeli ministerial commission ruled out the immediate release of any members of the hardline Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.

The commission formally approved the release of 350 Palestinians who had been on a list drawn up by the Israeli domestic intelligence service, Shin Beth.

But a government statement said that “the committee also decided that the cases of prisoners about whom doubts have arisen regarding their release would be re-evaluated in the government”.

It had been expected that the commission, chaired by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, would wave through a total of some 450 names, including members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were not implicated in attacks which led to Israeli casualties.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed on June 29 to a three-month halt to anti-Israeli attacks, but a raft of conditions was attached to the truce, including the release of all the estimated 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The Palestinian minister for prisoners’ affairs said Israel’s failure to release Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners would “lead the political process to a dead end”.

“We have entered a huge political crisis with the Israeli side and this decision will lead the political process to a dead end,” Hisham Abdelrazzaq said.

Israeli social affairs minister Zvulum Orlev, a member of the six-man commission, said that the release of Hamas or Islamic Jihad members would have been “immoral”.

“I am very happy that today the ministerial committee adopted my position not to release terror prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and for the government to discuss the issue again,” Orlev told the Haaretz newspaper’s website.

“I anticipate a very sharp discussion and I know that other ministers see the release of terrorists such as these as immoral, a serious diplomatic mistake and a very dangerous security gamble.”

The commission also agreed to publish the names of those prisoners who will be released and to reconvene on Aug 4.

The prisoners issue has become one of the major sticking points between the two sides with the Palestinians growing increasingly frustrated by Israel’s refusal not to release more detainees.

Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, who has faced heavy domestic criticism over his failure to persuade the Israelis to give more ground, is due to hold talks with US President George Bush in Washington on Friday.

Mr Abbas is spearheading the Palestinians’ talks in the peace process after the US and Israel both refused to deal with Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat, whom they accuse of trying to undermine his prime minister.

Mr Bush and Mr Sharon, who are also due to meet at the White House on Tuesday, have been keen to bolster Mr Abbas’s position.

The Israeli government’s statement said Mr Sharon recognized “his Palestinian counterpart attributes great importance to the (prisoners) issue and that progress on the subject will strengthen his position in the eyes of the Palestinians”.

Speaking before news emerged of the outcome of the ministerial commission, Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr appeared to soften demands that all 6,000 prisoners be freed.

“The Palestinians require a huge number of our prisoners to be released but not according to Israeli classifications,” he told reporters.

Mr Amr said the Palestinians would look to the United States to put pressure on Israel over the prisoners issue.—AFP