Abbas asks US help to free jailed Palestinian leader Barghouti
 

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 20 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked Washington to mediate with Israel for the release of Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader and possible presidential contender jailed a decade ago over a spate of suicide bombings. Israel agreed last year to free 104 Palestinian prisoners in what it termed a gesture of goodwill to mark the resumption of direct, U.S.-backed peace talks. But Barghouti was excluded from this and occasional previous releases and the talks have since faltered with Washington struggling to keep them alive. Any move to free such a high-profile figure as Barghouti would probably ignite a political fire storm in Israel.

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