Israel to allow transfer of weapons to Abbas force

Violence between Hamas and Fatah supporters has raised fears President Abbas may be targeted. Picture / Reuters.

JERUSALEM - Israel will allow weapons to be transferred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' personal guards following threats on his life, the Defence Ministry has said.

Western diplomats had earlier said European donors had pledged funds to boost President Abbas' security forces. Meanwhile, his aides said Egypt and Jordan had pledged arms and ammunition to help his presidential guard protect him.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz approved requests for Israel to allow some nations to donate light weapons and ammunition to President Abbas' personal bodyguards, a ministry spokeswoman said.

The weapons are meant to help "protect [President Abbas], because his life is in danger," she said.

"This is a limited and monitored amount. Israel will know exactly where and to whom it goes to."

She declined to give details of where the threats were coming from.

Senior Abbas aides Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rdainah said they were unaware of the decision. "These reports are baseless and untrue," Mr Abu Rdainah said.

The Defence Ministry spokeswoman did not specify which countries would donate the arms.

Tensions between supporters of Mahmoud Abbas and loyalists of the Islamic militant group Hamas have grown since Hamas beat President Abbas' Fatah in a January vote to control the Palestinian government, fuelling fears of civil war.

The mission of President Abbas' presidential guard has recently been expanded to include guarding border crossings in Gaza in order to quell international fears that Hamas militants may try to smuggle weapons through them.

Recent violence between the rival groups has fuelled fears of civil war and raised concern that President Abbas may be targeted.

On Saturday, Palestinian Intelligence Chief Tareq Abu Rajab, an Abbas loyalist, was wounded by an explosion in Gaza that the president called an attempted assassination. An aide was killed and several more forces were injured.

A day later, Palestinian security forces said they had defused a bomb found outside the home of a top security force commander who also belongs to Fatah.

The United States want to bolster President Abbas as a partner for eventual peace negotiations.

- REUTERS