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Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has agreed to the early release of two Islamic Jihad activists who were involved in January 1995 Beit Lid twin bombings, a Palestinian prison official was quoted as saying.

At least 22 were killed and about 60 wounded in the attack on the hitchhiking post used by Israeli soldiers at the Beit Lid intersection between Netanya and the West Bank town of Tulkarm. Arafat granted 31 prisoners pardons or early releases to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

According to the reports, Aziz Shami was sentenced to 15 years and Omar Shalah to 25 years by a Palestinian military court in April 1995 for planning and involvement in the Beit Lid bombing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's communications director David Bar-Illan decried the decision.

"This is a very discouraging move on Arafat's part, particularly now that he has promised the [U.S.] administration to start cooperating in a war against terrorism."

The report astonished the head of Preventive Security in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, who said he had not been informed of any such decision.

But Nassed Azzam, the Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, confirmed the reports and called Arafat's decision a positive one that would improve relations between the movement and the Palestinian Authority.

Azzam said Shalah will be released in four months and Shami next year, because they still have to serve time for other offenses.

The two had been on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest their detention.

Palestinian Prison Authority Chief Hamdi Rifi said the two men appeared on a list of 31 prisoners to whom Arafat had granted pardons or early releases.

Last week in Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders met with Palestinian security officials and asked them to release activists in Palestinian prisons as a gesture toward these groups.

In an unrelated development, Arafat promised to set up a committee to investigate the death of 23-year-old Nasser Hussein Huroub of Dura, who was found dead in a cell at the Hebron police station Tuesday morning.

According to Palestinian sources, Haroub was summoned to the Hebron police station on Monday night for questioning.

Palestinian sources said Haroub was found hanging in his cell and had committed suicide. Hebron District Attorney Rashid Amla ordered an autopsy at Bethlehem Hospital after relatives claimed he had been tortured.

Palestinian human rights organizations said Haroub is the 17th person to have died in Palestinian prisons since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.