THE Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has announced the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners as a personal gesture to the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

The announcement came after the two men met in Jerusalem in an attempt to advance the peace talks initiated by the US at last year's Annapolis conference.

It was their first meeting since Mr Olmert announced his decision to resign as Prime Minister as soon as his Kadima party chooses a leader in primary elections next month.

The two-hour meeting was reportedly cordial, with both sides expressing a commitment to the peace process despite Mr Olmert's resignation.

The sides discussed the work that has been done by the teams headed by Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and her Palestinian counterpart, Abu Ala, who were also at the meeting.

It was agreed that another meeting would soon be held between Mr Olmert, Mr Abbas and the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

The decision to release 150 prisoners was not part of any deal to secure the return of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in June 2006 and has since been held by Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that governs Gaza.

But it does give Mr Abbas an important win, and it is seen by some Israeli political analysts as a way of putting pressure on Hamas to be more flexible in its negotiations over Sergeant Shalit's release.

Sergeant Shalit's father, Noam, was critical of the decision. "I don't understand where this gesture is leading," he said.

"Until today, several hundred prisoners were released, but the release did not lead to any shift in the positions of the Palestinians and Hamas. I think that a great many Palestinians should be released, but only after Gilad is home. [President Abbas's] situation may improve due to the prisoner release, but Gilad's situation has not improved at all.

"It is unthinkable that they are holding an Israeli soldier, and we continue to release as if nothing has happened."

Mr Olmert decided to release the prisoners on the recommendation of Israeli security officials. More than 400 Palestinian prisoners were released a year ago.

The Israeli commentator Roni Shaked said 380 prisoners arrested before 1993 were still in Israeli prisons, most of whom Israel considered to have "blood on their hands".

Of these, 46 are serving life terms and have been imprisoned for more than 22 years. Seven have been incarcerated for more than 25 years.

Most are members of Fatah, the secular party of Mr Abbas.

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IT ALL IN THE FAMILY

Paul McGeough