|
More weaponry for West Bank
21/11/2007 22:27 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel has approved a shipment of Russian armoured vehicles, rifles and ammunition for West Bank security forces in a move to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of next week's US-hosted peace conference, officials said on Wednesday.
The gesture by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came despite objections from his military and security services, who fear the weapons could fall into the hands of the violent Islamic Hamas, in a sequel of the Hamas takeover of Gaza.
In another gesture to the Palestinians, Israel will begin allowing strawberry and flower exports from the Gaza Strip to improve the economic situation for the 1.5 million Palestinians living there, Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon said.
The Mideast conference, called by US President George Bush, is due to open with a dinner in Washington on Monday, followed by two days of talks in Annapolis, Maryland, and in Washington.
Captured large quantities of weapons
Israel and the Palestinians received invitations on Tuesday, and the Bush administration was contacting dozens of others, including moderate Arab nations, to lend support by attending.
One mission of the meeting is to boost Abbas, who is in a fierce struggle with Hamas. Pro-Abbas forces lost Gaza in June, when Hamas militants swept through the seaside territory in a five-day offensive, capturing large quantities of weapons and ammunition supplied by Israel, the United States and others.
Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 but still has a large military presence in the West Bank, indirectly helping Abbas' pro-Fatah forces maintain control there.
- AP
|
News
