Israel to approve security equipment for Abbas

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's defense minister said on Wednesday he has agreed to the transfer of new vehicles and equipment to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces and to ease travel restrictions for West Bank businesses.

But Ehud Barak, who plans to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad later on Wednesday, has so far balked at removing checkpoints and roadblocks that restrict travel and trade within the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian and Western demand.

Israel hopes the measures, announced ahead of a weekend visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will help blunt U.S. and Palestinian complaints it was not doing enough to bolster U.S.-backed peace talks and a Palestinian "law and order" campaign in the West Bank.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, launched at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November with the goal of reaching a statehood agreement before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office next January, have shown little sign of progress.

"The list of steps we intend to take to make life easier for the Palestinians, without relinquishing our overriding security responsibility, is important in moving the negotiations forward and maintaining a positive atmosphere," Barak told reporters.

He said the roster included equipment for Abbas's forces, including his elite Presidential Guard, and new vehicles, some of them armored.

Barak said he also agreed to give special permission to a larger number of Palestinian business owners and project managers to travel across the West Bank.

"They must be given priority, so they can go straight to the head of the line and pass through quickly with their magnetic identity cards," Barak said without offering further details.