ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 20, 1993                   TAG: 9310200115
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DEIR EL BALAH, OCCUPIED GAZA STRIP                                LENGTH: Short

ISRAEL'S LONGEST-HELD PALESTINIAN IS FREED

Released after 23 years in jail, Israel's longest-held Palestinian prisoner returned home Tuesday a symbol of the changes brought by the peace accord with the PLO.

"My happiness will be complete when all prisoners are released," said Salim Hussein Zerai, 53, who was greeted by hundreds of supporters around his family home chanting, "The olive branch lives on!"

Zerai, sentenced to life in prison after an an attempted seaborne raid on Israel in 1970, was the first of thousands of prisoners expected to be freed by Israel over the coming weeks.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said details of future releases would be discussed during talks on implementing autonomy for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the town of Jericho in the occupied West Bank. The talks, in Taba, Egypt, resume today. - Associated Press 


 by CNB