Palestinian Abbas forces amassing arms -sources

JERUSALEM, Jan 28 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security advisers have been amassing weapons in Gaza and the West Bank to build up a wider range of forces than just the presidential guard, Palestinian security sources said.

The sources said several thousand assault rifles and other weapons have been set aside in storehouses for members of Preventive Security and other services that are dominated by Abbas's Fatah faction and are locked in an increasingly violent power struggle with the ruling Hamas movement.

Previous arms shipments were earmarked solely for Abbas's presidential guard with US and Israeli backing. Up to 170 million dollar, including US funds and Palestinian tax revenues released by Israel, will provide training, equipment and other support to the guard, according to US and Israeli officials.

Palestinian sources did not disclose the source of the weapons or when they arrived in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abbas has yet to authorise distribution of the assault rifles in storage to the other security forces.

But Hamas officials say forces loyal to Abbas appeared to be better equipped during clashes at the weekend across the Gaza Strip. At least 13 Hamas members have been killed in the fighting since Friday, versus five from Fatah. In most previous flare-ups, Fatah suffered heavier losses than Hamas.

Violence between the factions has increased sharply in the last month since unity government talks broke down and Abbas called for new elections. Islamist Hamas beat secular Fatah in parliamentary elections a year ago. Hamas says holding another vote would amount to a coup.

The senior Palestinian security sources said between 3,900 and 4,900 Kalashnikovs and M-16 rifles and other weapons were being stored in the West Bank city of Jericho and in Gaza for Preventive Security as well as Abbas's National Security and General Intelligence services.

Several previous shipments of guns, ammunition and other lethal equipment were delivered to Abbas's presidential guard from US allies Egypt and Jordan with Israeli permission.

A senior Israeli official said Israel was unaware of any weapons going to forces beyond the presidential guard.

US ASSISTANCE Of the 100 million dollar in Palestinian tax revenues that Israel transferred to Abbas's office earlier this month, 85 million dollar will go towards a US-led programme to bolster the guard, said Miri Eisin, spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Washington plans to use 86 million dollar of its own money in coming months to provide the presidential guard with training and non-lethal equipment, officials said.

Though its leaders are seen as loyal to Fatah, Preventive Security is not eligible for direct US assistance because it technically falls under the jurisdiction of the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.

Western officials said Abbas's military build-up was meant to counter strides by Hamas in smuggling more powerful weapons into Gaza for its fast-growing ''Executive Force'' and armed wing, known as the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

The West Bank is dominated by Fatah but the group fears Hamas is secretly training forces there. Of the new weapons for Abbas's wider forces, 3,000 have been earmarked for the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.

Some analysts have warned that fighting between Hamas and Fatah could turn into a proxy war, with the United States supporting Abbas and Iran backing Hamas.

But David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the security aid was ''defensive'' and that the goal was to avoid a situation in which ''Hamas believes it can swallow or even intimidate non-Hamas forces and take over Gaza''.

Western diplomats say Hamas appeared to have a military edge in any prolonged fight with Fatah for control of Gaza.

First deployed by the Hamas-led government in the narrow coastal strip in May, Hamas says its ''Executive Force'' has grown from an estimated 3,000 members to nearly 6,000.

With US support in the coming months, Abbas's presidential guard is expected to expand from 4,000 to 4,700 men. Palestinian officials say the force could eventually grow to 10,000 members.

Preventive Security and Abbas's General Intelligence service have about 6,000 members each. The National Security forces have up to 40,000 members in total.

The United States and Israel have also backed a proposal by Abbas to let about 1,000 members of the so-called Badr Brigade, a Fatah-dominated force based in Jordan, into the Palestinian territories, though no date has been set.

REUTERS SP KP2240