First American-Trained Palestinian Battalion Returns From Jordan

Six hundred and twenty-five Palestinian security troops arrived in Jericho on Wednesday ready to take up positions on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The group is the first to have been trained by the United States in Jordan under the direction of Gen. Keith Dayton. The program is intended to create a fighting force loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas and his government that is capable of establishing law and order and able to defeat Hamas in combat. President George W. Bush had asked Congress for $80 million for developing the P.A.’s security apparatus. In April, $60 million was approved.