Palestinian security men take charge in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinian security officers deployed in Bethlehem on Sunday as Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's forces continue their Western-backed drive to take charge of West Bank cities.

Five hundred new security officers moved into Bethlehem on Sunday to beef up a force of about 1,000 men already based in the city, a Palestinian security source told Reuters.

It was the third such deployment since November by hundreds of officers loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, where his forces have already taken control in the cities of Nablus and Tulkarm.

Abbas's government has stepped up a crackdown on gunmen by deploying hundreds of men in an effort to exert power in the West Bank and bolster him against Islamist Hamas which seized the Gaza Strip and routed his Fatah forces in violent clashes in June.

"We are trying to see an Israeli withdrawal from Bethlehem ... the presence of the Palestinian security forces aims to maintain the rule of law and this is part of our security plan," Fayyad said when announcing the deployment.

"Our forces in Bethlehem ... are here to stay. It is not a temporary campaign," he added.

Israel, which is backing the security push, hopes it will help Abbas and his secular Fatah-backed government rein in militants -- a step the Jewish state has demanded after the two sides launched formal peace talks last month.

Palestinians complain of frequent Israeli army raids to seek out militants in their West Bank cities which they say undermine their own efforts to end lawlessness.

Israel controls entrances to the cities through checkpoints, which it says are needed to stop suicide bombers.

Fayyad said that the eventual plan was for Palestinian forces to take security control of all West Bank towns and cities.

Residents said some 20 new police vehicles could be seen on the city's streets and policemen were manning main intersections in the city, revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

Israel seized control of West Bank cities handed over to the Palestinian Authority under the 1993 interim Oslo peace deal after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, and has since barred armed security forces from operating in the cities.

When Palestinian security men deployed in Nablus in November it was the first time their forces were allowed to operate armed in the West Bank since 2002.

(Additional reporting by Haitham Tamimi; Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Giles Elgood)