Last update - 00:00 27/03/2007
U.S. cuts back plan to bolster Abbas' forces, offers $59 million
By Reuters
The United States plans to provide $59 million to strengthen Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard and support his new national security adviser, an amount that was scaled back from an initial $86.4 million proposal.
The offer was reduced after Abbas joined forces with Hamas in a coalition government in a bid to end factional warfare and ease a Western aid boycott.
Another $20 million are earmarked to help fund any future Palestinian elections, infrastructure improvements at the Karni commercial crossing between Gaza and Israel, and other non-security projects, according to U.S. government documents obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the money for Abbas and security adviser Mohammad Dahlan was meant to fuel divisions among Palestinians and undercut the unity government recently formed by the ruling Hamas and Fatah.
It is unclear whether the revised package will win U.S. congressional backing.
A Western boycott on diplomatic contacts has eased since the appointment of non-Hamas ministers to the government, but economic sanctions remain in place and the new coalition is already showing signs of internal strain.
The bulk of the new security package - $43.4 million - will be used to "transform and strengthen the Palestinian Authority presidential guard".
The sum includes $14.5 million for "basic and advanced training", $23 million for non-lethal equipment, $2.9 million to upgrade the guard's facilities and $3 million to provide "capacity building and technical assistance" to Dahlan's office.
The aid also includes $16 million to bolster security at the Karni crossing. The program will be led by the U.S. security coordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, Lieutenant-General Keith Dayton.
Dayton cautioned U.S. lawmakers earlier this month that Hamas forces were expanding fast and getting more sophisticated weapons and training than those under Abbas's control.
Over Fatah objections, Hamas is pushing ahead with plans to double the size of its Executive Force to 12,000 members.
The presidential guard's training will not be conducted directly by U.S. government personnel.
Included in the non-security funding is $1.7 million to help "pre-position" the U.S. Agency for International Development "to respond with support for any future electoral events in the West Bank and Gaza". Abbas' long-running threat to call elections faded after the unity government was formed.
Other U.S. programs include $4.5 million to help the Palestinian Monetary Authority set up a financial intelligence unit to "counter terrorist financing and money-laundering.