By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A confidant of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will be among the 250 security prisoners set to be released this week, a Palestinian newspaper reported Tuesday.
Abdel Rahim Malouh, a leader of a small, radical group will be on the list of prisoners slated for this Friday, Abbas told Malouh's wife in a telephone call, the Al Ayyam newspaper reported Tuesday.
Malouh, as a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, is considered very close to Abbas and could serve as a mediator between him and Hamas.
Malouh is a senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was jailed for involvement in attacks on Jewish settlers. He is at least 60 years old and reportedly sick.