<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Abbas orders release of Hamas woman&nbsp;prisoner]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Jan, 19, 2011 | AFP</p>
<p><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="9748" data-permalink="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/abbas-orders-release-of-hamas-woman-prisoner/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew/" data-orig-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg" data-orig-size="512,354" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="ALeqM5hC8QTD7ZdQ_Bc4Q6eoqrWqtzD9ew" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg?w=512" data-large-file="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg?w=512" class="size-full wp-image-9748 aligncenter" title="ALeqM5hC8QTD7ZdQ_Bc4Q6eoqrWqtzD9ew" src="https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg?w=512&#038;h=354" alt="" width="512" height="354" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Palestinian Tamam Abu Suud is greeted by her family after her release</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>NABLUS, Palestinian Territories — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas  on Wednesday ordered the release of a Hamas woman jailed over her  alleged ties to a political murder plot, security sources said.</p>
<p>Abbas  &#8220;decided to free Tamam Abu Suud in response to her request to be  released and pardoned,&#8221; a Palestinian Authority security source told  AFP.</p>
<p>Abu Suud was arrested in November in connection with what  Abbas&#8217;s security forces said was an alleged plot by the Islamist  movement Hamas to assassinate the governor of Nablus, Jibrin al-Bakri.  She was never charged.</p>
<p>&#8220;Her release was agreed after Abu Suud  admitted preparing plans targeting Palestinian national institutions and  leaders as part of a Hamas cell,&#8221; the source said.</p>
<p>She was freed on Wednesday afternoon.</p>
<p>Her  release was a humanitarian gesture, the source said, while warning  Hamas &#8220;against the exploitation of Palestinian women and children to  carry out its agenda which targets national interests and principles.&#8221;</p>
<p>Abu Suud, 52, thanked Abbas during a press conference with the governor she was accused of trying to help kill.</p>
<p>&#8220;I  thank president Abu Mazen, who generously took the decision to free me  even though I was accused and should have been tried,&#8221; she said, using  Abbas&#8217;s nom-de-guerre.</p>
<p>&#8220;I offer my apologies to the Palestinian people and to the governor,&#8221; she added, flanked by Bakri.</p>
<p>Abu  Suud, who preaches to Muslim women in the northern West Bank town of  Nablus, called on the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniya, &#8220;to  reconcile with the Fatah brothers so we can live in peace.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bakri accused Hamas of having &#8220;abused&#8221; Abu Suud &#8220;in the name of religion.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We call on Hamas to stop their destructive plans, which exacerbate divisions,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described the Palestinian Authority&#8217;s actions regarding Abu Suud as &#8220;immoral.&#8221;</p>
<p>He said her &#8220;apology had been extracted under pressure even though she was not implicated in anything.&#8221;</p>
<p>In  November, Palestinian Authority officials said a number of suspects  from Hamas had been arrested in connection with the plot, in a charge  strongly denied by the rival faction which rules Gaza.</p>
<p>Hamas and  Fatah are bitter opponents which have carried out periodic arrests of  each other&#8217;s members, often holding detainees without charge or trial  and routinely trading allegations of prisoner abuse.</p>
<p>Their ties  have been tense for several years. But resentment boiled over after  Hamas won elections in 2006 and, a year later, seized control of the  Gaza Strip after deadly streetfighting with Fatah.</p>
<p>Since then, the  Palestinian territories have been effectively split in two, with  Abbas&#8217;s rule confined to the West Bank. The parties held reconciliation  talks last September and November but without any progress.</p>
<p>Relations  were further frayed after the revelation in leaked US diplomatic cables  that Fatah had urged Israel to attack Hamas in 2007.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLOE3u4oz_WfYOHEVHijFOqgPtvw?docId=CNG.39a3ec779b59aa2263adc5395de3d1b3.571">AFP: Abbas orders release of Hamas woman prisoner</a>.</p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aleqm5hc8qtd7zdq_bc4q6eoqrwqtzd9ew.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>