Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - At least 150 Palestinians will be freed by Israel on August 25, as "a gesture of good will" toward the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who met with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem yesterday.

The Israeli announcement is clearly intended to reinforce Abbas's position within the Palestinian movement, after it was weakened following the clashes in the past few days between his Fatah followers and Hamas militants in Gaza, which ended with the desertion of some of the faithful of the president of the PNA.

The question that is capturing the attention of the Arab world today is connected to the request made by the Palestinian leader, who brought Olmert a list of names of prisoners he is asking to have released. In the first place is Marwan Barghouti. The Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, says that his name was explicitly mentioned by Abbas himself, together with that of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Barghouti Is the most popular of the Fatah representatives, and thought by many to be the potential successor to Abbas himself. The former head of the movement's military wing, Barghouti was sentenced to life in Israeli prison after being found guilty of responsibility for various attacks.

Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, has said that he does not know whether Barghouti will be among the first prisoners to be freed, and an official for the prime minister's office says that the prime minister has no comment on Abbas's request. On the Arab side, it is viewed as positive that, unlike what has always been said in the past, Israeli sources have not excluded the liberation of Barghouti on the grounds that the Jewish state does not release people "with blood on their hands". Barghouti's liberation, according to these same sources, would have a tremendous effect on the popularity of Abbas.