Nablus, West Bank, Feb 16, SPA -- Israel has freed a senior Hamas figure from jail days before he is due to be sworn in as a member of the new Palestinian parliament. Ahmed el-Haj Ali, 66, a leading Hamas cleric from the West Bank town of Nablus, said he was released on Wednesday after five months in jail under a so-called administrative detention order. The army made no comment on the release of Ali. "Israel found no further justification to keep me in jail", Ali told Reuters. The new Palestinian parliament will be sworn in on Saturday. Hamas took 74 of the parliament's 132 seats in a surprise Jan. 25 election victory, trouncing President Mahmoud Abbas's long dominant Fatah. Ali won more votes than any other candidate in Nablus. --SPA 14 13 Local Time 11 13 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/330912