Abbas seeks to bolster Fatah with Jordan-based force

JERUSALEM, June 26 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked Israel for permission to bring Fatah forces based in Jordan to the West Bank to try to shore up his control after Hamas's Gaza takeover, Israeli officials said today.

Abbas met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, seeking support for the emergency government he appointed in the occupied West Bank after dismissing a unity cabinet led by Hamas Islamists.

''The Palestinians put in a request yesterday to transfer the Badr Brigade from Jordan to the West Bank,'' a senior Israeli government official told Reuters. ''It is being evaluated and a decision will be made soon.'' Israel wants Abbas to do more to rein in militants and has been considering providing his forces with additional arms and ammunition.

Abbas had initially intended to send the Badr Brigade into the Gaza Strip to try to stop militants from firing makeshift rockets into Israel.

That deployment was never initiated and appears unlikely anytime soon with Hamas in firm control over the coastal territory.

By some accounts, the Badr Brigade has less than 1,000 fighters of various levels of training.

Western officials have visited the main Badr training base in Jordan but a formal evaluation has not been made. Some have questioned the brigade's level of preparedness for action against militant groups.

Analysts say Badr is Fatah's best-trained and best-equipped fighting force, aside from Abbas's Presidential Guard. Badr is considered to be more loyal to Fatah than other forces. It also has strong ties to the Jordanian king.

The US security coordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, US Lieutenant-General Keith Dayton, has yet to publicly take a position on a potential Badr deployment in the West Bank.

Under Abbas's request, the Badr Brigade would reinforce his elite Presidential Guard and other Fatah-dominated security services.

The United States has so far not provided Badr troops with training or equipment, but has assisted with coordinating preparations for their deployment, sources said.

REUTERS AK HS1533