March 28, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1428

JERUSALEM, March 27: The Bush administration plans to provide $59 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and additional money to support any future elections, US documents showed on Tuesday.

The security programme was scaled back from an initial $86.4 million after Abbas of Fatah formed a coalition government with Hamas Islamists in a bid to end factional fighting between the groups and ease a western aid boycott.

The revised security package, totalling $59.36 million, will be used to provide Abbas’s presidential guard with training and non-lethal equipment.—Reuters