US to pump $ 86 mln into Abbas's forces amid fighting

JERUSALEM, Jan 5 (Reuters) The Bush administration will provide .4 million dollars to strengthen security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expanding US involvement in Abbas's power struggle with Hamas, US documents showed today.

Fighting between Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas, the ruling Islamist group, has surged since talks on forming a unity government collapsed and Abbas called for early parliamentary and presidential elections. Hamas accused Abbas of mounting a coup.

The US money will be used to ''assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling PA commitments under the road map (peace plan) to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order in the West Bank and Gaza,'' a US government document obtained by Reuters said.

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