Hamas to Free All Political Prisoners in Gaza

Source: Al-Manar TV, 30-10-2008
The head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday the imminent release of political prisoners as a goodwill gesture ahead of Palestinian reconciliation talks in Egypt.
"I would like to announce in the name of the government that in order to prepare the ground for dialogue, our government has decided to respond favorably to calls for the release of political detainees," said Ismail Hanieh, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu said there are no more than about 20 political prisoners in Gaza and that all of them should be freed on Thursday.
Hamas and the rival Fatah movement have been invited to meet in Cairo on November 9 to discuss an Egyptian plan which aims to restore Palestinian unity.
The two movements have been bitterly divided since Hamas drove
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's security forces from Gaza in a week of fierce street clashes in June 2007, cleaving deep political divisions between Gaza and the West Bank.
Hanieh urged the Palestinian Authority to respond to the prisoner release by freeing dozens of Hamas members held in the West Bank.