Berlin Aims To Improve Situation Of Palestinian Prisoners: Official

Berlin, May 8, IRNA -- Germany hopes to improve situation of Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails for years, a top German official said here Monday. Addressing media representatives in Berlin, foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke pointed to the ongoing European Union talks with the Israeli side aimed at improving the status quo of Palestinian inmates. He added the EU-Israeli dialogue on the state of the Palestinian prisoners kicked off earlier this month. Peschke's remarks followed calls by the Minister of Prisoners' Affairs of the Palestinian Authority Issa Karake who urged for greater international focus on the deteriorating of the situation of the Palestinian prisoners. Speaking to the Hamburg-based weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Karake stressed that Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners 'violated international law.' Western human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the Zionist regime for violating the Palestinian prisoners' rights. The illegal Jewish state has also been slammed for the systematic torture of the Palestinian inmates, including women and children./end