Israeli security cabinet on Thursday decided to pull back troops from a number of West Bank cities and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners ahead of a regional summit next week.  

A cabinet minister said on condition of anonymity that the four-hour meeting of Israeli security cabinet approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners who had no Israelis' blood on their hands, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported.

The Palestinian side is hoping for the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the report.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II to a summit meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh next Tuesday.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israeli Army Radio that the summit would be a success "if we can announce in Sharm al-Sheikh a mutual cessation of violence against each other, if the concerned parties can resume security cooperation on the level that existed prior to the onset of the Intifada (uprising) in 2000, and if Israel can release a significant number of Palestinian prisoners."

He also urged Israel to stop expanding settlements and building barrier walls in the West Bank, and reopen the PLO offices in East Jerusalem.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2005)