Olmert to announce steps on settlements, prisoners

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans to announce next week a partial freeze in settlement activity, the release of up to 400 Palestinians prisoners and the removal of some West Bank travel restrictions.

Israeli government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity on Thursday, said the three gestures were meant to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and persuade Arab states like Saudi Arabia to attend a U.S.-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood in the last week of November.