Israel Frees Its Longest-Held Palestinian : Mideast: Prisoner had served 23 years. The move could be the first step in release for thousands as part of accord.

Israel freed its longest-held Palestinian prisoner Tuesday, beginning what is expected to become a general release of thousands of prisoners as part of the accord on Palestinian self-government.

Salim Hussein Zerai, who had served 23 years of a life sentence for attacks on Israeli soldiers and for killing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with the Israeli occupation here in the 1960s, was greeted by more than 500 cheering people as he returned home to Deir al Balah in the southern Gaza Strip.

“This is a confidence-building measure to strengthen the agreement, a gesture of our goodwill,” said Oded Ben-Ami, a spokesman for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “Since signing the agreement, the Palestine Liberation Organization did not carry out any terrorist activity, and so we see no reason not to release Salim Zerai after 23 years in prison.”

Now 50 but appearing older and quite fragile, Zerai was a commander in Fatah, the principal Palestinian guerrilla group led by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, when he was captured in 1970 trying to infiltrate back into Israel by sea from Lebanon.

“I think our bullets have been fired for the sake of peace,” Zerai told well-wishers in Deir al Balah on Tuesday. “Tears streamed from eyes when I saw my (Palestinian) flag flying from my own home. My happiness will be complete, however, only when all prisoners are released.”

Women danced and sang outside Zerai’s house as men carried him on their shoulders, chanting “Allahu Akbar (God is Great)” and “The olive branch lives on.” Two members of the local “Fatah Hawks,” dressed in guerrilla uniforms, hugged him and then fired their weapons in the air.

“Our main aim is peace,” Zerai said. “From the first bullet we fired, we were aiming to achieve peace, and this accord is the first step forward to achieve the Palestinian goal.”

Dr. Ahmed Tibi, a physician from East Jerusalem who advises Arafat, welcomed Zerai as he was released at the Gaza border with Israel. Tibi said Arafat had personally sought Zerai’s release and that of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder of the Islamic militant group Hamas, in discussions with Rabin in Cairo two weeks ago.

The PLO has called for the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons on charges of fighting the occupation--a figure put at nearly 12,000 by Israeli authorities--and the return of 1,500 deported for similar reasons.

Israeli officials have suggested that between 4,500 and 6,000 of these prisoners could be released in the next few weeks, including as many as 1,000 next week. The prisoners have already been sorted into categories by the Israeli security police, Shin Bet, according to their crimes, time served and potential danger. About 600 of them who had physically harmed or killed Jews have been put on a special list to be held longer.

Both sides readily agreed last week during talks in Cairo that the release of prisoners is important to the success of the autonomy plan--because it could help persuade reluctant Palestinians to support the peace process--and the issue is among the first being discussed.

Dr. Zakari Agha, a prominent Gaza physician and a member of the Palestinian delegation to the Arab-Israeli peace talks, said Zerai is an important symbol because so many activists had come to know him in prison and that, with the respect he commanded, he could play an important role in calming the feuds within Fatah.

“People measure the success of the agreement by such things as Zerai’s release,” Agha said. “That’s tangible, real and immediate, and the release of our prisoners stands for the release of the whole nation from Israeli occupation.”

Yet the Rabin government is concerned that it might lose backing among Israelis for the accord if it frees Palestinians guilty of violent attacks on Jews or if it releases prisoners while attacks continue.

Rabin told a parliamentary committee in Jerusalem that details of future releases will be discussed during talks on implementing autonomy for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the town of Jericho in the occupied West Bank. Those talks resume today with the PLO at the Egyptian resort of Taba.

“I think that in the next few days the issues will be raised and clarified and decisions will be made,” Rabin said.

But Rabin also acknowledged that pulling out of the Gaza Strip and turning over Jericho to the PLO are proving far more complex than he expected.