[...]The cabinet also agreed to establish a ministerial committee that would decide the details of the release.

Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman was asked to serve on the committee but declined, saying he would be happy instead to drive the prisoners to a place from which they would never return.[...]

[...]Palestinian cabinet member Hisham Abdel-Razak said Sunday that the Palestinian Authority will stop implementing the road map peace plan and halt all negotiations if Israel does not decide Sunday to release all of the Palestinian prisoners it is holding. "If Israel does not decide [Sunday] morning to release Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian Authority will resign from the road map," Abdel-Razak said.

"This is the most important issue for us," Abdel-Razak told Israel Radio. "Israel must decide on principle that they will release all of the prisoners and implement the decision gradually. If this is not done then there will not be negotiations, no road map. In this deal we will not be partners."[...]

[...]Nonetheless, Palestinian Minister for Culture Ziad Abu Amr said he did not believe the Palestinian factions would back out of the cease-fire at this stage. PA Information Minister Nabil Amr told The Jerusalem Post, "This decision will make [Palestinian Prime Minister] Abu Mazen's efforts to consolidate the cease-fire and convince all factions to abide by the hudna more difficult," but the PA will continue to deal with the issue in the joint Israeli-Palestinian committees and Abbas will raise the issue again during his next meeting on Tuesday.

An aide to Abbas suggested that "the Israelis want to keep the issue as a bargaining card so they can release gradually some more prisoners each time Sharon and Abu Mazen meet or they need to make a gesture to satisfy the Americans." The aide predicted that Israel was likely to spread the release of most prisoners over a period of two years.[...]