EU seeks $187 million for West Bank security projects

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - EU advisers to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's police force said on Tuesday they were seeking $187 million for training, equipment and judicial projects but did not expect to get the full amount.

The head of the European Union training program, Colin Smith, unveiled a list of nearly 30 training and building projects ahead of a June 24 security conference in Berlin.

Smith said Berlin would not be a pledging conference, and that the money would probably come out of $7.7 billion in pledges to the Palestinians announced in December.

"I doubt I will get all the money I want. One never does. But if I get a proportion of that, we can develop some of those projects," he told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Western officials cited donor fatigue following a series of high-profile conferences, including one last week in which nations pledged $20 billion in aid to Afghanistan.

U.S.-backed peace talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have also shown little sign of progress.

Smith, a top British law enforcement official, said he hoped in the next two years to build a police force able to combat both criminal and militant activity, a condition set by Israel for Palestinian statehood.

"They're a long way short of that at the moment..." he said.

Smith's package includes $134 million to train and equip police officers and build prisons, detention centers and police stations. "They lack capacity, they lack equipment, they lack infrastructure," he said.

A further $53.2 million would help fund the Palestinian criminal justice system, with projects to modernize courthouses, set up a forensic institute and create a judicial records system.

A Palestinian security campaign in the northern West Bank has been marred by a shortage of prison space, forcing police to release some criminals.

(Reporting by Adam Entous; editing by Tim Pearce)