Islam Times - Pre-Oslo prisoners must be freed at once, says wife of jailed leader

Islam Times - As families of veteran Palestinian prisoners impatiently await the release of the first group of 104 Palestinians detained before the 1994 Oslo Accord, families of other prisoners are disappointed.

Releasing the 104 veteran prisoners in groups is a big mistake in the first place, says Fadwa Barghouthi, wife of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi. All 104 prisoners must be released at once before resuming negotiations with the Israelis, she told Ma’an on Monday.

On the other hand, Barghouthi was disappointed because the Palestinian leadership did not raise with the Israelis the release of her husband who has been serving five life sentences since 2002.

“Does the Palestinian leadership want prisoners like Marwan and Ahmad Saadat (secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and others to wait 30 more years in custody before being freed?” Fadwa wondered.

But she welcomed the release of any pre-Oslo prisoners. “Before he was detained, Marwan had struggled to release long-serving prisoners, and he always slammed Oslo over (its) failure to free them,” she added.

Fadwa urged the Palestinian leadership to adopt a well-planned strategy to secure the release of all Palestinian prisoners. Experienced persons should be in charge of the prisoners’ case, she said highlighting that improvisation in this case is unacceptable.