Quds city, November 05, SPA _ Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans an additional Palestinian prisoner release before a high-stakes Mideast peace summit in an effort to bolster the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday. Olmert is examining a Palestinian request to free as many as 2,000 of the 12,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds, but has not decided how many people would be freed, or when, the newspaper said. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad raised the demand in public for the first time in a weekend interview with The Associated Press. He said it was time for Israel to make bold moves to reassure the Palestinian people it is serious about peace negotiations, and that a release of 2,000 prisoners ahead of the conference would help to boost trust.
