'PM won't let gov't vote on prisoner releases until Schalit deal sealed'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will not present changes to the criteria for the release of prisoners "with blood on their hands" to the government's approval until a prisoner swap with Hamas securing the return of captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit is finalized, diplomatic officials quoted by Army Radio said Monday. Earlier, the radio station reported that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on the identities of 230 Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of the Schalit deal. The progress was reportedly facilitated by the decision by a special ministerial committee to relax the criteria for defining a prisoner with "blood on his hands." Initially, Israel was only willing to release 44 prisoners on the Hamas list.