Senior US official to visit Israel on military aid

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will travel to Israel this week to discuss the proposed 30 billion dollars, 10-year US military aid package for the Jewish state, the US State Department said today.

The Bush administration announced the money for Israel as well as plans to give Egypt 13 billion dollars in defense assistance on July 30. The Israeli package amounts to an increase of about 25 percent over previous years.

In addition, the administration is considering giving Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states as much as 20 billion dollars in similar aid over 10 years, a US official has said.

The military assistance is designed to reassure Gulf nations of the United States' commitment to the region despite its problems in Iraq, as well as to strengthen them in the face of Iran's growing influence in the region.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons.

Tehran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes to generate electricity so it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Burns, the third-ranking US diplomat, would travel to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem tomorrow through Friday to discuss details of the aid package, which needs US congressional approval.

He returns to Washington from Israel and does not plan to visit Egypt or the Gulf on this trip, McCormack added.

An Israeli official last week said there were differences between Israel and the United States about how the 30 billion dollars should be disbursed, with Israel asking for the payments either to be front-loaded or to be spread evenly over the 10 years.

On Saturday, an Israeli official involved in the talks said the two sides had reached an agreement under which the first year's payment would be 2.55 billion dollars, as proposed by the United States, and would then rise over time.

Reuters SBA VP0208