110 militants off Israeli wanted list-Palestinians

NABLUS, West Bank, Aug 18 (Reuters) Israel plans to take 110 Palestinian militants in the West Bank off its wanted list, Palestinian officials said today, in what would be another move to boost President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

The Jewish state granted amnesty to 178 militants from Abbas's secular Fatah group last month, on condition they renounce violence.

None were responsible for any Israeli deaths.

Akram Rajoub, head of the Preventive Security Forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, said Israeli officials had given him a list of 110 Palestinian militants set to receive amnesty. He did not elaborate to which group they were loyal.

''The wanted Palestinians mentioned in the list are to surrender their weapons to Palestinian security departments and sign documents saying they will not launch any attacks on Israel,'' Rajoub said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has pledged a series of steps aimed at bolstering Abbas following the takeover of the Gaza Strip in June by the Islamist group Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state and has killed scores of Israelis.

Israel also released last month more than 250 Palestinian prisoners, mostly Abbas loyalists.

Riad Malki, Minister of Information in Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's government, which Hamas does not recognise, confirmed the roster but urged Israel to stop its continuous raids to locate other militants in the West Bank.

Israeli soldiers detained a Palestinian on Saturday near Nablus after they found he was carrying three explosive devices.

In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shot dead one militant and detained two others for questioning after they tried to lay an explosive device close to the border fence with the Jewish state, an Israeli army spokesman said.

No Palestinian militant groups claimed the man as one of their operatives and hospital staff in the Gaza Strip said the dead man was dressed in civilian clothes.

Earlier today, Israeli troops detained five Palestinian men who had infiltrated across the heavily fortified border fence from Gaza who were looking for work in Israel, the army said.

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