CAIRO, June 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Israeli and Palestinian security officials are holding now marathon talks with detained Marwan al-Barghuti, Fatah Secretary in the West Bank, to help coax Palestinian factions into accepting a temporary truce with Israel, which if proved successful, might win him his freedom, well-informed Palestinian sources told IslamOnline.net Thursday, June 19.

The sources, who requested anonymity, told IOL that Palestinian State Minister for Security Mohammad Dahlan is joining hands in the talks.

"Talks are exploring Barghuti’s ability to convince armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, to accept a temporary truce during which all operations in and outside the Green Line (separating the West Bank and Israel) would be halted," they explained.

It is highly possible, continued the Palestinian sources, that Barghuti would be "freed over the coming few weeks," despite Israeli deputy defense minister Zeev Boim’s denial of such a possibility.

"The Israeli government, in fact, is torn between the right- and lift-wing parties on this kind of issues. While the rightists argue that releasing Barghuti would embarrass the government, particularly after accusing him of orchestrating attacks against Israel. But the leftists believe issues should always judged as to what serves Israel's national and security interests," the Palestinian sources told IOL.

They further expected the Israeli leftists to be able to make their case, given that Barghuti had previously played a pivotal role in fruitful negotiations with Palestinian factions, and is the only one capable of getting Al-Aqsa Brigades under control.

For his part, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, Khaled al-Battch, expected Israel to free Barghuti within few days.

"This is for two reasons: the first has to do with Barghuti's recent fruitful contacts with Palestinian resistance factions from his prison cell, which aimed at calming things down to salvage the Intifada; and secondly his ability to control Al-Aqsa Brigades," he told IOL.

Battch recalled that Barghuti made contacts with Islamic Jiahd officials from his cell in January and coordinated with them the first round of the inter-Palestinian dialogue in Cairo.

He said Barghuti sponsors the view that Palestinian factions should act in unison and calm things down "to rearrange their cards and put the Israeli intentions to the test."