Israel released more than 330 Palestinian prisoners Wednesday in what it called a gesture to bolster a US-backed peace "road map." Palestinian officials dismissed the move as a sham.

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his child after being released from an Israeli prison at Tarqumiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron August 6, 2003. Israel will release dozens of Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday to bolster a US-backed peace plan and reformist Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. [Reuters]

The first prisoner freed flashed a V-for-victory sign at cheering relatives waiting at a checkpoint outside the West Bank town of Betunia and smiled broadly as he stepped off a bus that brought him from an Israeli jail.

Others kissed the ground, watched closely by armed Israeli soldiers, before boarding Palestinian vans for the trip home for tearful reunions and embraces with relatives and friends.

A Jewish settler carrying a protest banner broke through a security cordon and ran at the buses carrying the detainees to freedom but was wrestled to the ground by troops and hauled off.

Right-wing Israelis and relatives of victims of Palestinian suicide bombings opposed the decision to begin freeing the Palestinians, though none of those released was directly involved in attacks.

"We hope this is a trust-building move that will help promote the (peace) process," said Arnon Perlman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Palestinians, who regard the prisoners as heroes of their nationalist cause, said the release did not go far enough and demanded amnesty for all 6,000 detainees in Israeli jails.

"It is worthless and meaningless," Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said. "It is a theatrical step to appease Washington."

The dispute led Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to pull out of talks set for Wednesday with Sharon on the road map, which aims to end a 34-month-old Palestinian uprising with the promise of statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.

REQUIRED TO SIGN PLEDGE

A Palestinian prisoner, released from an Israeli prison, kisses his daughter after he arrives at Tarqumia checkpoint at the entrance of the West Bank city of Hebron August 6, 2003. [Reuters]

Before their release, prisoners had to sign a pledge to "refrain from hostile activity" against the Jewish state.

But Hamad al-Smairi, a member of Islamic Jihad and one of several dozen militants freed, said he would feel no compulsion to abide by that promise. "I am a soldier of the Islamic Jihad and I will do whatever and be whatever the Islamic Jihad wishes," he said after arriving in the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad, one of the main groups behind a wave of suicide bombings against Israelis, joined other militant factions in declaring a three-month truce that began on June 29.

Militant leaders derided the prisoner release as a ruse.

Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, said Israel had refused to free long-serving prisoners and this "will affect the (truce) very hard."

Israel, saying Palestinians "with blood on their hands" would remain behind bars, said Tuesday it would free 339 prisoners, including about 30 who were anyway due to complete their sentences this month.

But Israeli officials decided at the last minute to remove three men from the list to consider new charges against them.

Many of the freed prisoners had been arrested in ongoing sweeps for suspected militants. Witnesses said Israeli forces arrested 18 Palestinian security men in the West Bank city of Jericho Wednesday. The army did not immediately comment.

Nearly half of the freed prisoners had been held without trial, drawing the censure of international human rights groups.

Charges the group faced included stone-throwing, membership in militant groups and possession of weapons and explosives. The release list contained few long-serving detainees.

The road map does not mention a prisoner release but requires implementation of a previous plan which called for freeing "all Palestinians arrested in security sweeps who have no association with terrorist activities."

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