Abbas boosts West Bank security

Troops are to patrol Palestinian-inhabited areas only

More than 500 Palestinian police reinforcements have been deployed in the city of Hebron in the West Bank.

The officers are patrolling Palestinian areas of Hebron, but not Hebron city centre where Jewish settlers live, guarded by Israeli troops.

Israeli officials say they approved the move to strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas's control of the occupied West Bank against the rival Hamas movement.

Hamas accused Mr Abbas's forces of co-operating with the Israeli occupation.

Hebron has consistently been a flashpoint. A few hundred Jews live in the middle of 150,000 Palestinians, and the town is also home to the reputed burial site of the Patriarch Abraham - revered by both Jews and Muslims.

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The Palestinian deployment began at dawn on Saturday as some 550 officers drove into Hebron in jeeps, vans and buses.

"The deployment of these forces is part of a plan by the Palestinian Authority to bring security to its citizens, just like in any other country in the world," Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said.

"I hope this plan will be successful, as was the case in Jenin, Nablus, and other West Bank cities," he said.

Mr Fayyad said the move was not directed at any specific individual or group - an allusion to Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Mr Abbas's rival faction Fatah.

Since then, the Palestinian leader has intensified efforts to prevent Hamas from taking over the West Bank, closing down Hamas-linked organisations and arresting hundreds of its supporters, correspondents say.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, condemned the Hebron deployment.

"Their role is to curtail Hamas and take aim at the weapons of the resistance, not to enforce the law or protect citizens," Mr Barhoum said, according to AFP news agency.