PA police confiscate stolen cars in Nablus in effort to impose order

Palestinian police began confiscating stolen Israeli cars in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday and have beefed up their forces to crack down on growing lawlessness.

The police informed Palestinian militant groups - which oversee theft rings and possess illegal weapons - that they also intend to start collecting unlicensed guns, police said. The power of the police has been greatly weakened as Palestinian gunmen have taken charge of the streets during the past five years of hostilities with Israel.

The factions were told, in the meantime, to obey a recent order to keep their weapons out of the open, the police said.

As part of the crackdown in Nablus, more than 400 special police forces were brought into the city earlier this week, said Dehan Abdullah, a senior police commander in Nablus.

Palestinians working with Israeli crime rings steal thousands of cars from Israel every year although Israel's construction of a barrier along the outskirts of the West Bank has greatly reduced the trend, Palestinian police say. The police estimate that thousands of Israeli stolen cars are located in Nablus.

Police would not say when they would start collecting the unlicensed guns, an operation likely to set off tensions between the security forces and militant groups.

	Palestinian police bulldozers destroying confiscated stolen cars in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday. (AP)