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Jordanian demonstrators set American and Israeli flags on fire during a rally against an Israeli troops operation in northern Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, Saturday, Nov. 04, 2006. (AP)
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| By Associated Press November 6, 2006 |
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Jordan may send a Palestinian army unit based in the kingdom to bolster security in the violence-wracked Palestinian territories, the chief government spokesman said Monday.
Spokesman Nasser Judeh told reporters that the possibility of sending the unit -- the Badr Brigade of the Palestinian Liberation Army -- "has been raised" with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Judeh gave no further details and sought to downplay the issue, saying that Jordan wanted to "support the Palestinian National Authority in any way possible."
Arab newspapers have reported that Abbas wants to bolster his own security forces in anticipation of a feared Palestinian civil war.
The PLA was established as the military wing of the PLO in 1964 but its units have been controlled by Arab governments which allowed them to be stationed on their soil.
Sending the Badr Brigade could trigger opposition among many Palestinians who consider the Jordan-equipped and trained force as loyal to the Hashemite kingdom.
Many Palestinians fear that Jordan still dreams of regaining control over the West Bank, which the kingdom ruled until Israel seized the territory in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel has in the past objected to allowing Badr members to enter Palestinian territory.
However, Israeli officials have softened that stand as clashes intensified between Abbas' Fatah Party and forces loyal to the anti-Israel Hamas government.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told lawmakers he may permit the deployment, according to Ran Cohen of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
"If the addition of a military force will not hurt our security, then this will be considered favorably," Cohen quoted the prime minister as saying. He did not mention the Badr Brigade by name.
Abbas, who was elected president last year, is nominally the supreme commander of all seven Palestinian security branches. Most security personnel were hired by Fatah, which controlled the Palestinian Authority for more than a decade.
When Hamas won the January parliamentary elections, it set up its own militia, which now numbers 5,700 troops. Hamas has announced plans to recruit an additional 1,500 forces in the West Bank -- Fatah's stronghold.
The rival security forces have clashed frequently in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks as political tensions between the two sides grow.
Jordan has maintained cordial relations with Abbas. In 1988, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank and Jerusalem, but maintained its self-proclaimed custodianship of holy sites in the city.
The Jordanian-based Badr force numbers about 2,000 fighters under the command of Palestinian Gen. Faisal al-Fahoum.
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