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</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>Thousands Rally in Gaza
for Prisoners <br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Agencies<br><br>
Arab News<br><br>
GAZA CITY, 18 April 2006 About 3,000 people took to the streets of Gaza
City yesterday in a show of solidarity for fellow Palestinians held
behind bars in Israel as part of events to mark prisoners day. The
protesters first rallied outside the local headquarters of the
International Committee for the Red Cross before making their way to the
Gaza branch of the Palestinian Parliament, chanting “Free Our Prisoners”
and carrying banner proclaiming “The Prisoners are the Heart of the
Palestinians.”<br><br>
Some of those taking part in the rally carried portraits of Ahmed Saadat,
the leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
who is being held in a jail near Jerusalem after being controversially
captured from a prison in the Palestinian town of Jericho last month.
Others carried posters of Marwan Barghouti, the head of the Fatah faction
in the West Bank who is regarded as the inspiration behind the
Palestinian uprising, and is now serving five life sentences in an
Israeli prison.<br><br>
In a letter addressed to the ICRC, Information Minister Yussef Rizqa
urged the organization to put pressure on Israel to release Palestinian
prisoners as well as improve their conditions. “Israel is always
hindering the visits for the families of prisoners,” said Rizqa who also
accused the prison authorities of obstructing the work of inmates’
lawyers. A total of 9,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli
prisons, according to the Palestinian central bureau of
statistics.<br><br>
Meanwhile, reports of a possible deal that would see Barghouti released
from an Israeli prison were dismissed as a smear by one of his associates
yesterday. A weekend report on army radio said the Israeli government may
soon make a request to Washington for the release of ex-Pentagon official
Jonathan Pollard, who was jailed after spying for Israel, in return for
Barghouti’s release.<br><br>
Barghouti, West Bank leader of the Fatah faction, is serving five life
terms after being convicted by Israel over his role in a series of deadly
attacks. However, fellow Fatah MP and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekat said Barghouti would not be interested in any such deal. “The
reports are only intended to portray Marwan in a negative light,” said
Erekat who is a frequent visitor to Barghouti’s prison cell.<br><br>
“In my last meeting with Marwan, he told me that he regarded himself just
like any other Palestinian prisoner and that all of them should be
released.” Erekat’s comments came during a session of Parliament
dedicated to the plight of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The
Israeli and US governments have also poured cold water on the idea of any
such deal.<br><br>
A number of Israeli officials have in the past, however, left open the
prospect of Barghouti’s early release, aware that he is a hugely
influential figure among the Palestinians. As leader in the West Bank of
the former ruling Fatah faction, Barghouti could serve as a focus of
opposition to the Islamist movement Hamas which is now leading the
government in the Palestinian territories.<br><br>
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