Israeli Cabinet Agrees to Free 400 More Prisoners

The Cabinet approved the move, which had been delayed for weeks, in an 18-3 vote. Sharon told ministers that freeing the prisoners would help shore up Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose calls for an end to violence against Israel won praise from President Bush during the Palestinian leader's visit to Washington last week.

"Those who believe that the events of the coming months are liable to strengthen the forces of extremist terrorism certainly understand the need to strengthen the principal moderate element in the PA and honor our commitments," Sharon said in public comments before his weekly Cabinet meeting.

But Palestinian officials criticized the approved release as insufficient, and said they should have been given a say in determining who would be freed. Palestinians complain that in previous releases, most of those freed were near the end of their sentences. Prisoners who had spent more than a decade behind bars were not included.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called on Israel to convene a joint committee that was established to set guidelines for the release of prisoners.

"This is not enough," Erekat said. "I'm sure there are 400 Palestinian families who are happy. But there are over 8,000 Palestinians still in prison."

Erekat also urged Israel to resume handing over security responsibility for West Bank towns to Palestinian forces. At the Feb. 8 summit, Sharon promised to transfer control of five towns, but Israel stopped after the hand-overs in Jericho and Tulkarm.

None of the 400 prisoners to be released were involved in violence against Israelis. Their names will be posted on a government website to give Israelis a chance to raise objections to the release of specific prisoners.

Right-wing Israeli ministers said freeing prisoners, who are viewed by most Palestinians as heroes in the struggle against Israeli occupation, would only encourage militants. Critics said Abbas had failed to take concrete steps against the fighters and shouldn't be rewarded.

Israel released 500 Palestinians in February. But Sharon said three weeks ago that he was putting off further releases until Palestinian leaders took a harder stance against militants.