Israeli soldier takes wrong turn into W Bank town

JERUSALEM, Aug 27 (Reuters) An Israeli soldier who took a wrong turn into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank today was picked up by Palestinian security forces, who handed him back unharmed in a new sign of cooperation with Israel.

The Israeli army said the soldier inadvertently drove past one of its checkpoints near the town of Jenin, considered a militant stronghold by Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.

He was picked up by Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas who escorted him back to an Israeli position.

A crowd in the city, however, overturned and torched the soldier's abandoned car, tearing pieces of metal off the vehicle after a fire truck doused the flames, television footage showed.

The Israeli military and Abbas's forces have restored a measure of security cooperation since Hamas Islamists routed fighters from his Fatah faction and took over the Gaza Strip in June.

REUTERS RAR RN1724