By Adam Entous JERICHO, West Bank, April 12 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are getting newer bases at home and more advanced training abroad for an expanded security role that could put them on a collision course with militants. Abbas's call over the weekend for his security forces to help prevent rocket attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip opened a new rift with Hamas and exposed the policy differences that underlie their month-old coalition government. Western and Palestinian officials said Abbas's goal was to create a Palestinian "gendarmerie", a force trained in military tactics that operates in civilian areas and is capable of carrying out police duties, restoring law and order, and enforcing any existing and future agreements with Israel. In addition to basic training conducted at facilities in the West Bank city of Jericho and the Gaza Strip, about 500 men loyal to Abbas's Fatah faction recently crossed from Gaza into Egypt for more advanced instruction in police tactics, Western security officials said. Hundreds of members of Abbas's presidential guard will take similar courses in the coming months at a facility in Jordan as part of a $59.4 million U.S. security programme that received a green light from Congress this week. The programme includes $2.9 million to make "modest physical upgrades" to presidential guard training sites, including a new 16-acre base in Jericho that is nearing completion. "It's an acknowledgement of what's needed," said a senior Western official involved in the programme. Washington believes Hamas's armed wing and "executive force" are receiving cash, training and weapons from Iran to consolidate control over Gaza. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Abbas's call for the security forces to stop the rocket fire went against the unity government's platform, which advocates "resistance" against Israel in all its forms. "What he said did not match the agreement among the factions," Barhoum said of Abbas. While Hamas has largely restrained its own forces from launching rockets, the group has made clear it has no intention of halting the operations of Islamic Jihad and other factions. Israel says Hamas has been busy improving its own rocket capabilities and plotting other attacks, while helping other militant groups behind the scenes. Despite the unity government deal, Hamas and Fatah loyalists in Gaza continue to clash and the Islamist group raised strong objections to Abbas's appointment of Mohammad Dahlan, one of Hamas's biggest rivals, as national security adviser. Palestinian sources say Dahlan was personally coordinating the training programmes and seeking additional assistance. A European Union police training programme, largely frozen after Hamas came to power in March 2006, may be restarted with a focus on forces under Dahlan's control, European diplomats said. DIVIDED OVER MISSION "The main division between Abbas and Hamas is the mission of the security forces," said Mohammad Yaghi, a fellow at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and a columnist for the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam. "Hamas wants the security forces to be part of the national struggle with Israel. Abbas and Dahlan want the security forces to be part of implementing any agreement with Israel," he said. Mouin Rabbani, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Hamas may be nearing a strategic turning point. In late November, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said a "third intifada" may be launched if a "historic" chance for peace was ignored. He said at the time that the West had six months. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh followed suit in late March, saying Hamas would reassess its strategy if sanctions were not lifted on the unity government in two to three months, a warning he repeated on Wednesday. "Never before has Hamas been so open about its preparedness to accommodate an Israeli and Palestinian political settlement," Rabbani said. "But they're also making clear that this cannot happen at their expense." Hamas won't disclose where it armed wing gets its weapons, and says money sent by Iran is used by the Hamas-led Palestinian government to provide public services. Citing Hamas's arms build-up and rocket fire by groups that refuse to abide by a November truce, Israel's defence minister earlier this month authorised limited strikes just within Gaza. A commitment by Abbas to try to stop rocket fire could give him a boost in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and delay a further escalation. But Western, Israeli and some Palestinian security officials are sceptical Abbas's forces will be ready soon for the task, which could require a 5-km (3-mile)-wide deployment the length of Gaza's borders with Israel and may fuel domestic opposition to Fatah. A senior Western security official brushed aside such political concerns: "Stopping Qassam rockets is a law enforcement issue, not doing Israel's dirty work." (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)
