Israel releases 100 prisoners in advance of Bush peace summit

AL KHADER, West Bank -- Israel freed about 100 Palestinian prisoners Tuesday in a goodwill gesture ahead of a Mideast peace summit with President Bush. The oldest, convicted of killing 13 Israelis, was greeted upon his release with clasped hands by Yasser Arafat.

Ahmad Jubarah, 68, was welcomed by Arafat in a televised meeting clearly meant to send a message that the Palestinian leader -- despite being banished from the summit -- was still in charge.

The summit Wednesday in the Jordanian resort of Aqaba marks the official launch of the "road map," a three-year plan that aims to end 32 months of violence and lead to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

At the meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will issue a statement accepting the principle of a Palestinian state, an Israeli official said. His Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, will recognize Israel's right to exist side by side with a Palestinian state, Palestinian officials said.

In the run-up to the meeting, Israel eased some travel restrictions on Palestinians, expanded fishing rights in the Gaza Strip and agreed to release a few of the estimated 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody. The Israelis did not give exact numbers.

As the two sides prepared for the summit, violence peristed. Israeli troops killed a Palestinian policeman in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, Palestinian doctors said. The army said soldiers fired at armed Palestinians in a prohibited zone.

In the village of Al Khader near Bethlehem, about a dozen released prisoners, some of whom had been jailed for weeks and others for months or years, jumped off a bus, kneeled on the ground and prayed.

Excited relatives ran past unguarded concrete barriers to greet the prisoners, all but one of whom had been held without charges or trial at the Ketziot, Ofer and Megiddo military prisons, according to the army.

The exception was Jubarah, who was released from the Ashkelon prison in southern Israel, where he had been held for nearly three decades for his role in a 1975 Jerusalem bomb attack that killed 13 people.

Many Israelis, including some Cabinet ministers, objected to Jubarah's release, saying it violated Israel's principle of not freeing prisoners directly involved in terror attacks.

A crowd of cheering Palestinians hoisted Jubarah on their shoulders, and he was driven to a hotel to relax before meeting with Arafat. He clasped hands with the Palestinian leader as photographers took their picture.

Arafat has not been invited to the Jordan summit, part of U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the Palestinian leader, who Israel blames for militant attacks. Abbas said Tuesday that he complained to U.S. officials about their boycott of Arafat.

"Arafat should not be isolated, he should not be treated in this way, Yasser Arafat remains a symbol for the Palestinian people," he told ABC's Peter Jennings in an interview in Sharm el-Sheik after the summit there.

Earlier Abbas said he would not visit the United States until Arafat is granted freedom of movement. Israel has held him under virtual house arrest in his Ramallah headquarters for more than a year.

Among the other prisoners released Tuesday was Amjad Azzeh, 24, who said Israeli soldiers arrested him six months ago, accusing him of being an agent of Fatah, whose armed wing has carried out numerous terror attacks. Tears welled in his eyes when a childhood friend enveloped him in an energetic embrace for nearly a minute.

Ayman Azzeh said seeing his brother made him optimistic the coming summit could achieve real results.

"It gives us hope that something good will happen this time," he said.

Other prisoners were less sanguine.

"I was going to be released anyway next week," Ala Iwewi said as he greeted his family in Hebron. "This is merely public relations for Israel to show that they are implementing the agreement with the Palestinians."

Tayseer Khaled, a hard-line PLO official arrested in February, was freed late Monday. Khaled and Jubarah were mentioned in an Israeli government statement listing goodwill gestures, following a meeting Thursday between Sharon and Abbas.

Sharon has told his Cabinet he would likely make a declaration at the summit committing Israel to dismantling settlement outposts set up in violation of Israeli law. Stopping all settlement construction is a key element of the peace plan.

Abbas is supposed to reiterate that the Palestinian Authority opposes all acts of violence and will work to stop the "military intefadah," a reference to attacks that have killed more than 750 Israelis in the latest round of violence.

Abbas has been working to secure a cease-fire with militant groups. Israeli officials have said they would probably accept a cease-fire for now, as long as the groups are disarmed soon after and their leaders arrested.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have indicated they would agree to a cease-fire if Israel stopped military operations in Palestinian areas and the targeted killings of suspected militants.

Both militant groups dismissed the summit, however, saying it would benefit only Israel.

"America seeks to achieve security for Israel," Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "America does not want security for our people or our future. ... The road map will fail because the enemy doesn't want peace."

Islamic Jihad leader Abdulla Shami said his organization rejects the summit "because it serves the interest of the Israelis to achieve their security and leaves the Palestinians murdered every day."

"The United States wants to redraw the map of the Middle East for the sake of Israel, which we reject totally," he said.