A leading Palestinian militant linked with the murder of Israel's Tourism Minister will be among 256 radicals released from prison in the Jewish State this week, in what is being viewed as a significant gesture by Israel to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abdelrahim Malluh's name was on a list of prisoner releases issued publicly this afternoon as a "goodwill gesture" to Mr Abbas after being approved by Israel's Cabinet earlier today. He will be released on Friday, the Israeli Government confirmed.

Malluh, the deputy leader of the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), is one of the highest profile militants in prison in Israel after being accused by the Jewish State of indirect involvement in the planning stage of the assassination of Rehavam Zeevi.

Mr Zeevi, a staunch right-winger who had vehemently opposed all reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, was killed in Jerusalem 2001.

His inclusion on the list is thought to have provoked an Israeli Cabinet split with one Minister, the Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Liberman, boycotting this morning's meeting during which the list was backed by a 7-2 majority.

Malluh, who was jailed in 2002 for nine years, is the most significant name on Israel's list. Significantly, it does not include the PFLP's leader Ahmed Saadat, who remains custody as Israel considers that he arranged the murder.

His release is designed to help shore up Mr Abbas's authority in the West Bank after Hamas gunmen routed his Fatah movement in Gaza last month.

It is also aimed at countering the kind of Palestinian claims seen after previous prisoner releases, when leaders complained that those set free were not significant political figures, with many in jail for petty crimes entirely unrelated to the Palestinian national cause.

Israel confirmed that 85 per cent of those to be released on Friday would be Fatah-affiliated militants while others would come from the PFLP and other parties. But none are members of Hamas, which has been internationally isolated for refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist or renouncing terrorism.

David Baker, a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, added that those to be released also have no "blood on their hands," a phrase used by Israel to describe someone who has directly murdered an Israeli national.

However the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs, Ashraf al-Ajrami, expressed dissatisfaction with the move, saying that the release of just 256 out of more than 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails on the grounds of national security was not enough.

"Israel insists on releasing those who have limited sentences," Mr al-Ajrami said. "We want a release of prisoners who received long sentences."

As the releases were confirmed, it was disclosed that Tony Blair would kick off his new role as Middle East envoy in earnest when he visits Israel, the West Bank and moderate Arab Governments next week.

The former Prime Minister's trip, expected to start on Monday evening, will be aimed at winning backing from sceptical Arab states for President Bush's proposed Middle East peace conference this autumn. It will also be designed to back Mr Abbas's rule in the West Bank.

Mr Blair started a whirlwind diplomatic tour today when he met Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

In the coming days he will also meet the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the EU’s external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels.

He will then travel to Rome and Madrid before heading to Portugal, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, where he will meet the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, EU, Russia and the UN - for the first time on Thursday.

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