Blair calls for expanding Palestinian forces

By Adel Abu Nimeh

JERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) - Middle East envoy Tony Blair called on Wednesday for expanding the capabilities of Palestinian security forces to bolster Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts.

Israel is reluctant to accept a specific timetable for peace moves at a U.S.-sponsored conference without more guarantees that Palestinian forces can prevent attacks on Israel if the Jewish state begins reducing its military presence in the occupied West Bank.

The debate over deadlines comes amid signs of progress this week in talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the outlines of an agreement that would be presented at the conference, to be held near Washington as early as November 15, or later that month.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit the region next week to "shuttle between the Israelis and Palestinians to push them to reach a written agreement before the conference," senior Abbas aide Nimer Hammad said.

Israeli officials said Olmert would be open to a rough timetable for peace moves as long as the Israeli steps were tied to reciprocal moves by the Palestinians on matters like disarming militants, as called for under the long-stalled U.S. "roadmap" peace plan.

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that the U.S. conference would be pointless unless it addressed issues such as the fate of Jerusalem and set a timetable to implement any deal.

"Obviously there is the political progress that we need -- movement towards a settlement of this dispute," Blair said during a visit to the West Bank city of Jericho.

He said he hoped both sides "at a later time" will be able to take steps to improve economic conditions for Palestinians "that will really make a difference to people here".

After watching Palestinian police recruits quell a mock riot at a training facility, Blair told reporters: "We've got to try to build the capability of the Palestinian forces."

"We need to invest a lot in changing and restructuring the security services," the former British prime minister said.

The public comments were Blair's first since arriving in the region last week on his second visit as special envoy for the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Washington has long worked with Abbas's forces but has stepped up the effort since Hamas seized Gaza in June. The EU is helping train the police.

TIMELINES

Olmert and Abbas agreed on Monday to appoint negotiating teams to try to narrow differences over final-status issues.

One sticking point was over Abbas's call for deadlines for implementing any agreement. "They want a tight and strict schedule for implementation," one senior Israeli official said. "Naturally we can't commit to a tight and strict schedule."