Israel to release 200 Palestinians

JERUSALEM  - Israel’s cabinet voted on Sunday to release some 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to president Mahmud Abbas aimed at bolstering slow-moving US-backed peace talks.

PM Ehud Olmert’s spokesman Mark Regev called the move a “confidence-building measure” towards Abbas, saying “we hope the release will help strengthen the peace process.”

The list, which will be considered for final approval by a ministerial committee on Monday, will include at least two veteran prisoners implicated in deadly attacks on Israelis in the 1970s, a senior govt official told AFP.