Erekat calls on Ashton to save life of Issawi

PLO Executive Committee Member Saeb Erekat sent an urgent letter to the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton calling for a prompt intervention to save the life of striking prisoner Samer al-Issawi. Issawi has been on a strike for about six months now and might lose his life at any moment. Erekat held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the life of Issawi and the rest of prisoners detained in Israeli jails. The letter stressed that Israel must release the 107 prisoners who were arrested before the 1994 Oslo accord, the 1000 prisoners agreed upon to be released by president Mahmoud Abbas and former prime minister Ehud Olmert, in addition to the 15 prisoners released in Gilad Shalit swap deal and later re-arrested, including Issawi.