WEST BANK: JERICHO : NEW PALESTINIAN POLICE FORCE IN TRAINING

(6 Oct 1995) Arabic/Nat
A week after Israel and the P-L-O signed their agreement to expand Palestinian self-rule, Palestinians have begun training hundreds of policemen to replace Israeli troops in the West Bank.
It's only been a week since the Washington signing of the Israeli PLO agreement, but already the Palestinians are starting to train their own policemen to replace the 12 thousand Israeli troops who will now leave the area.
Some 7 thousand officers have been recruited from the West Bank. 5 thousand others will come from Arab countries Algeria, Iraq and Yemen - and will be granted entry into the West Bank by Israeli authorities.
Palestinian policemen will be stationed in 25 police stations and posts in major cities, towns, and villages throughout the West Bank and will begin work after the withdrawal of Israeli troops over the coming weeks.
In addition to their duties patrolling the streets of the West Bank, the Palestinian policemen will have a tough mission fighting the militant opponents of the Israeli PLO accord, like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, who threaten to derail the peace process.
Already the Palestinian police have established training camps to train the new force.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic):
"As you know we are getting ourselves ready for the redeployment according to the second part of the Oslo agreement."
SUPER CAPTION:Colonel Nidal Assouli, Chief of Training Police Camp, Jericho
The Palestinian recruits are taught a variety of Self-defence technics such as Karate, judo, and weapon handling.
Their loyalty to P-L-O Chief Yasser Arafat is unswerving and the force will be an integral part of his authority in the Palestinian autonomous zone.
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