Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will meet this week in Amman, the Palestinian government spokesman said Monday.

"The Jordanian prime minister has extended an official invitation from his majesty King Abdullah to Prime Minister Haniyeh to visit Jordan and to meet with President Abu Mazen [Abbas] to discuss the latest developments and the issues of difference," Ghazi Hamad said.

"Prime Minister Haniyeh has welcomed the invitation," he said. "Arrangements are under way to agree on the date."

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Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit called his Palestinian counterpart, Ismail Haniyeh, to invite him to come to the Jordanian capital for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's Petra agency reported.

The agency hinted that both Palestinian leaders had accepted the proposed
talks - it said they thanked Jordan for its invitation - but it did not give a date for the meeting, which is expected to be hosted by Jordan's King Abdallah.

"This is a follow-on his Majesty's initiative to exert all efforts to reinvigorate the peace process and solidify Palestinian national unity ... and explore all options, including hosting a meeting [between Abbas and Haniyeh] when the situation is right," a Jordanian government spokesman said.

Talks between Haniyeh and Abbas of the moderate Fatah over a joint government have broken down, and there have been clashes between armed forces loyal to the rival movements. Jordan has offered to mediate in the past.

Abbas called for early elections in the Palestinian Authority, a move Hamas said amounted to a "coup". Hamas, a militant group sworn to destroy Israel, beat Fatah in a January parliamentary vote.

U.S., European officials visit Fatah training base in Jordan
United States and European officials have visited a base in Jordan where Fatah is training troops to reinforce Abbas in any showdown with Hamas, sources familiar with the visits said on Monday.

Up to 1,000 members of the Jordan-based Badr Brigade would initially be deployed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as part of U.S.-backed efforts to strengthen the moderate Palestinian leader's hold on power.

The Bush administration is seeking congressional support to provide up to $100 million to bolster Abbas' presidential guard and expand his control over strategic border crossings.

The United States recently sent a mid-level U.S. official to visit a Badr training facility in Jordan for informal discussions, a European diplomat and other sources said.

Sources familiar with the plan said U.S. money would not be used to provide the presidential guard with "lethal" equipment.

But Israeli officials say Washington has been instrumental in helping organize shipments of guns and ammunition to the presidential guard from Egypt and Jordan.

The sources said Badr's deployment may not start for several months because the force needs substantial amounts of new military equipment and training. Badr would reinforce Abbas's presidential guard and other Fatah-dominated security services.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the matter.