Poland ready to train Palestinian police officers

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is ready to train up to 100 Palestinian police officers next year as part of efforts to help the peace process in the Middle East, an official said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday donors attending a Berlin conference pledged $242 million for Palestinian police and legal institutions.

"We are declaring our readiness to train the 100 soldiers in Poland," Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who was at the Berlin conference, told Reuters.

Waszczykowski said technical details needed to be worked out and the Palestinian authorities would have to agree.

"The main problem now is that Israel doesn't want to unblock the Gaza Strip for example, fearing who will take control over it. We want to ensure that legal institutions and police -- able to grant security in the zone -- are in the West Bank," he said.

"I'm sure this would change Israel's stand on many other issues," he added.

Later on Tuesday, the "Quartet" of Middle East mediators -- the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States -- meet in Berlin.

(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)