Jerusalem, Jan 26: Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom today said that Israel was ready to free some Jordanian prisoners independently of an exchange which has been agreed with the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah. "We are ready to free Jordanian prisoners and I have no doubt that this issue will be the order of the day in my conversations in Jordan," Shalom, who is to hold talks in Amman on Wednesday, told public radio.

He said the release of "prisoners of Jordan or Egypt -- two countries which have signed a peace accord with Israel--- does not form part of the prisoners exchange with Hezbollah."

In Amman, a foreign ministry source said Israel was set to free a new batch of Jordanian prisoners following bilateral talks between the two governments unconnected to the German-brokered negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel already freed 10 Jordanian prisoners last November as a goodwill gesture for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but at least 61 more remain in Israeli jails.

"Israel will release a new group of Jordanian prisoners who are being held for security reasons," the source said, adding that those freed would not include four Jordanians serving life sentences in Israel for offences committed before the kingdom's 1994 peace deal with the Jewish state.

"We have been working quietly over the past eight months on this issue and the prisoners' release has nothing whatsoever to do with the Hezbollah swap," the source said.
Bureau Report