Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas met on Tuesday with the spouse of Marwan Barghouti as part of a Palestinian campaign for his release. Barghouti was sentenced to five life terms for the murder of five Israelis and other crimes.
Abbas and Fadwa Barghouti met at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, with the former issuing a statement that Barghouti’s release “has always been at the top of President Abbas’s agenda and that of the Fatah movement,” the P.A.-run news agency Wafa reported.
In August, P.A. deputy leader Hussein al-Sheikh said that every effort was being made to secure Barghouti’s release.
The statement came during a visit with other Palestinian officials to the home of Barghouti’s family, with al-Sheikh adding that the former head of the Tanzim terrorist group “represents a symbol of the Palestinian struggle” and that all Palestinian detainees inside Israel should be freed, according to Wafa.
Barghouti, 66, one of the most notorious figures of the Second Intifada, was arrested and convicted in 2002 for orchestrating a series of terrorist attacks against Israelis. In 2004, he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus 40 years.
Although Barghouti’s name has periodically surfaced in connection with proposed prisoner-exchange deals, successive Israeli governments have rejected his release, citing the risk that he could reignite large-scale violence. Israel Prison Service officials describe him as a “ticking time bomb” whose freedom could trigger a third intifada.
