GAZA/RAMALLAH, June 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel began to release some 400 Palestinian prisoners Thursday, witnesses said.

    Some freed Palestinians, who were transferred early Thursday from Ketziot prison in southern Israel to the West Bank, have arrived at the checkpoint near Ramallah, while others arrived at another West Bank city of Tulkarem, witnesses said.

    The release was the second and last stage for Israel to deliver on its promise at the Feb. 8 Sharm el-Sheikh summit with the Palestinians to release 900 prisoners.

    The first batch of 500 was released in February after the summit.

    Israeli Radio reported the inmates left their prisons at 10:00a.m. local time (0700 GMT) aboard eight buses which carried them from several prisons in Israel and headed towards the West Bank and Gaza borders.

    Hundreds of the prisoners' relatives and friends gathered at the checkpoints of Erez on the border between Gaza and Israel as well as the Traqoomia and Tulkarem checkpoints in southern and northern West Bank.

    Among the officials who waited for the prisoners at Erez Crossing in Gaza was Hisham Abdel Razeq, chief of the prisoners association and Sofyan Abu Zayda, Palestinian minister of prisoners' affairs.

    Abu Zayda told reporters that the release of the 400 prisoners was a unilateral action since Israel didn't coordinate with the Palestinian side on who would be released.

    "The Israeli action today is unilateral and we want it to be coordinated in order to change the criteria and terms Israel isputting on the release of the prisoners," said Abu Zayda.

    Abu Zayda said the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) insists that all prisoners should be released, especially those detained before the Oslo Accords in 1993 and teenager, women, the ill and elderly prisoners.

    However, Israel said it will never release those "with blood on their hands", referring to those convicted of attacks incurring Israeli casualties.

    Most of the 400 released prisoners had almost ended two thirds of their terms, and most of them are members of the ruling Fatah movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Palestine and Hamas.

    Islamic Jihad prisoners were excluded from the release, which strong condemnation from the movement. Jihad leaders therefore called on Palestinian factions to reconsider a truce announced in Cairo in March.

    Abbas has talked militants into abiding by a de facto truce atthe Cairo Dialogue, which largely ended the over four years of bloodshed since the outbreak of the intifada (uprising) inSeptember 2000.

    Israel said its release of Palestinian prisoners was aimed at boosting Abbas ahead of the Palestinian parliamentary elections due on July 17.

    The Abbas-led Fatah is facing a major challenge from Hamas,which put up a strong showing in the municipal elections and is setto fare well in the upcoming legislative elections. Enditem