Before Irsheid's release, however, Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr condemned the abduction and said action would be taken. "This type of behavior will not be allowed," Amr said.
The attack comes ahead of a week of diplomatic activity on behalf of the "road map" peace plan, which calls for an end to violence and steps leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Palestinian officials say Abbas and Sharon were to meet yesterday, though Israel has not yet confirmed the timing. It would be the first time the two have met since July 1.
A truce called by militant groups on June 29 has substantially reduced the violence, but progress on the road map has been blocked by disagreement over what steps to take next.
Israel pulled troops out of parts of Gaza and the West Bank town of Bethlehem two weeks ago, but conditions further pullbacks on a crackdown on militants. A senior official in Sharon's office said Saturday that Arafat's enduring influence with Palestinian security forces was stalling moves against the militants.
In the meeting with Sharon, Abbas was expected to push for a mass release of Palestinian prisoners, further Israeli withdrawals from West Bank towns and dismantlement of illegal Israeli settlement outposts.
There have been some signs of flexibility. Israel had previously said it would release only some 400 militants, but Israeli officials now say they are considering releasing more; Amr, for his part, said Saturday that he understood the prisoner releases would take time.
Still, Amr insisted the aim should be to release of all of the Palestinian prisoners, whose number is put by the International Committee of the Red Cross at 7,700.
"We expect serious and convincing proposals" on the prisoners issue in the upcoming meeting with Sharon, Amr said.
Israel argues that they cannot release large numbers of militants until the Palestinians dismantle the armed groups that would otherwise benefit from the fresh manpower.
The statement from Dahlan's office pledged to crackdown on groups holding illegal guns, citing the case of a woman in Nablus who was killed earlier this week when a gunman sprayed a street with bullets during a kidnapping.
"The security forces of the [Palestinian Authority] would not adopt any lenient policy toward the phenomena of holding weapons illegally," the statement said.
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