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Israel Approves Palestinian Prisoner Release, Troop Pullout from
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Jericho
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B5BE66:2AB91D3

Sources say Israel will free 500 Palestinians at the end of next
week's Israeli-Palestinian summit in Egypt, and 400 others over
the next three months Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon say his security cabinet has approved a plan to release 900
Palestinian prisoners and withdraw troops from the Palestinian town of
Jericho.

The sources say Israel will free 500 Palestinians at the end of next
week's Israeli-Palestinian summit in Egypt, and 400 others over the
next three months. About eight-thousand Palestinians are in Israeli
custody.

The troop pull-back from Jericho is to start in the coming days. The
Israeli army is considering a withdrawal from four other West Bank
Palestinian urban centers.

The Israeli decision follow steps by Palestinian leaders to stop
militant attacks on Israeli targets.  A de facto
Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire has been in place for most of the past
two weeks.

Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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