Israel to release 87 Palestinian prisoners on Monday

    JERUSALEM, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israel will free 87 Palestinian security prisoners on Monday as a gesture of goodwill to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman with Israeli Prison Authority told Xinhua on Sunday.

    The prisoners will be transferred to the Palestinian territories at 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Monday, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

    Twenty-nine of the prisoners who are residents of the Gaza Strip will be transferred to Gaza through Erez crossing, he said, adding that the rest will be transferred to the West Bank through the Bitunia checkpoint near Ramallah.

    According to a report by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli President Shimon Peres signed amnesty to pardon 26 Palestinianprisoners who were sentenced in Israeli civil courts while the remaining prisoners hinged on special pardon by Israeli army because they were sentenced by military courts.

    Also on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told representatives of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) that he hoped the number of Palestinian security prisoners would dwindle as peace talks with the Palestinians moved forward.

    "I hope and I am making great efforts so that your prisoners fall in numbers, especially security prisoners," Olmert told IPS Commissioner Benny Kaniak.

    "I hope the talks will lead us and the Palestinian to a common path and a situation where one day our prisons will be a little less crowded with security prisoners who are trying to harm our Israeli citizens," Olmert added.

    On September 23, the Israeli cabinet approved a release of some90 Palestinian prisoners. Most of them come from Abbas' Fatah movement, and none belongs to Hamas.

    Olmert has declared his willingness to release a limited number of the roughly 11,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds, in an effort to shore up Abbas who has been in a power struggle with Hamas which seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid June.

    Israel released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners in July.