Abbas, Hamas forces expanding despite unity deal

KARNI, Gaza Strip, Mar 5 (Reuters) Forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the ruling Hamas movement are pushing ahead with expansion plans despite a unity government deal, Palestinian and Western officials said.

Workmen in the West Bank city of Jericho said they have stepped up construction of a 16-acre base for Abbas's presidential guard and are putting the finishing touches to a ''college'' for his intelligence service.

Since the power-sharing deal between Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas Islamists was signed on February 8 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the presidential guard has set up a makeshift camp on newly-appropriated land next to the Karni commercial crossing in Gaza and has started training recruits there.

''This is a military base that needs money to be equipped, whether there is Mecca or not,'' a presidential guard commander said as shirtless recruits marched in formation behind him. ''We have no lack of human resources but we lack equipment. Hamas has mortar bombs. Hamas has rockets. We don't have that.'' The Islamic militant group Hamas has likewise been busy building up its own ''executive force'' to 12,000 members, double the current size. ''We are working hard to accomplish that,'' spokesman Islam Shahwan said.

Zakaria al-Qaq, a security expert at al-Quds University, said the unity government deal between Fatah and Hamas political leaders may have stemmed factional fighting for now, but there was little trust between rival forces in the field.

''The Mecca agreement may look good, but on the ground it's not doable. The mobilisation is still the same, the preparation is still the same, on both sides,'' he said.

Israeli intelligence services believe Hamas is stockpiling weapons for another round of fighting, either with Fatah or Israel, according to government officials.

Hamas and Fatah leaders acknowledge differences remain over control of the security services and the fate of the executive force, but say they have put factional fighting, the worst since Palestinians gained a measure of self-rule in 1994, behind them.

FUNDING It is unclear how Abbas will pay for the presidential guard's expansion. Audits of his spending have been kept secret.

Diplomats say Abbas has been receiving money from Arab donors, and Israel said it recently wired him 100 million dollars in Palestinian tax revenues, largely to fund security programmes.

But US congressional concerns about Abbas and his unity government deal with Hamas are holding up release of 86 million dollars in American funds to train and equip his forces.

A Western diplomat working with the presidential guard said the hold on US funds could make it harder for Abbas's forces to attract recruits and provide them with the equipment they need. Hamas gets money from Iran and other Islamist allies, and provides its fighters with weapons and training.

''We're getting our money,'' a contractor at the presidential guard base in Jericho said as workers used a steamroller to level the new training grounds. The contractor said major construction work at the site should be completed in a month, but it was unclear when the new recruits would arrive.

Across from the ruins of Jericho's 8th century Hisham's Palace, the new ''Security Sciences College'' is close to opening its doors.

Abbas's intelligence service has started placing job ads in local newspapers and hopes to begin classes this summer.

At Karni, an expanded perimeter barrier is being built with European funds. A UN team has come to train recruits on how to inspect trucks and search for bombs, though on a recent visit, the portable classrooms were still in their boxes.

''We're moving ahead. In fact, we're moving ahead quite demonstrably,'' said a Western diplomat of US-backed efforts to expand Abbas's control over crossings like Karni, through which virtually all goods must pass between Israel and Gaza.

The contrast is stark between the modern base being constructed in Jericho and Karni's bare-bones camp. ''Jericho's another country,'' a presidential guard commander said.

A spokesman for the presidential guard said Abbas issued a presidential decree on Feb. 1 taking over 18 acres of land next to Karni. The guard set up the new training base two weeks ago.

''We are ready but they are not,'' the guard's commander said of international donors. The commander said he received a small shipment of uniforms, 250 black tops and matching trousers, but put them in storage because they did not fit his men properly.

One of the houses at the Karni training camp has been turned into a mess hall. ''The new recruits used to eat standing. Now they have tables. But they still eat standing because we don't have chairs,'' the commander said.

Reuters AKJ DB1024