RAMALLAH, Nov. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Khader Shqirat, lawyer of the jailed Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti, said on Sunday that Israel is considering releasing Barghouti after he won the Fatah primaries.

    Shqirat told reporters that Barghouti's victory in Fatah's internal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah last week would make Israel seriously consider his release.

    Israeli Army Radio quoted senior Israeli security sources as saying that Israel's military and security establishments are mulling on the issue of releasing Barghouti.

    Meanwhile, Yosi Belin, an Israeli party head, called on theIsraeli government to release Barghouti, saying that his victory among the young generation in Fatah could help both Israel and the Palestinians to achieve a permanent peace.

    Barghouti's wife Fadwa told reporters that Shqirat will visither husband in his Israeli jail and inform him of the good news that he had won the primaries.

    Barghouti, a top Fatah leader in the West Bank and member ofthe Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was arrested in April 2002 in Ramallah by Israeli army in its Defensive Shield operation.An Israeli court convicted Barghouti of leading the armed Intifada (Uprising) against Israel in which several Israelis were killed, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Enditem