30 Palestinian prisoners to remain in Israeli jails since before '93

Only 30 Palestinian prisoners, locked in Israeli jails before 1993, would remain in the Jewish state's prisoners when Tel Aviv releases a third batch of Palestinian inmates tonight, the Palestinian ministry of prisoners said Monday. The "old prisoners" are the Palestinian inmates locked behind bars before the Palestinians and Israelis signed the declaration of principles in Oslo, Norway, in September 1993, which paved way for the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority on May 4 1994. An agreement signed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on September 4 1999 stipulated that Israel released all old prisoners. That did not happened fully so far. Abdulnasser Farawneh, director of statistics at the ministry, voiced concerns that Israel would not release all prisoners by next March. He said Kareem Yunus has been locked in Israeli jail since January 1983, noted Farawneh in a statement.