Barghouti mocks Israeli gesture to release security prisoners

By JPOST.COM STAFF
"The release of 400 prisoners is a joke," jailed Fatah Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti told the Knesset's Committee on the Interior and the Environment that visited his detention center on Sunday. The terror leader told Committee Chairman MK Ophir Paz-Pines that Israel could easily release 8,000 Palestinian detainees and added that those prisoners scheduled for release are to be freed in the coming months in any case. The release of 429 Palestinian security prisoners is due to take place Monday morning. The move was approved by the cabinet before the Annapolis conference as a gesture to boost the standing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Mark Weiss contributed to this report.