Last update - 00:00 18/12/2007
Abbas backs French proposal for int'l force to boost PA security
By News Agencies
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he supported a French proposal to deploy an international force to help shore up Palestinian security forces.
"We welcome this idea," Abbas told reporters at a news conference in Paris. "We are working for this to become the international position in the near future."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy floated the idea of an international force during a donors' conference in Paris Monday at which the Palestinians were pledged $7.4 billion in aid over the next three years.
He said such a deployment should take place at the right time when the conditions are in place.
Israelis have been cool to the idea of an international force, and it is unlikely that the plan could get off the ground without Israeli approval.