300 of PA police to deploy in Nablus on Friday

       Hundreds of Palestinian police officers are expected to deploy Friday in the West Bank city of Nablus, following Thursday evening talks on the issue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The talks were held after Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad reached an agreement in principle on the deployment roughly one and a half months ago. The deployment was not carried out earlier, due to difficulties on the Palestinian side in organizing their forces. Israel has agreed to allow 500 police officers deploy, although only 300 are actually expected to do so. According to recent reports, United States Mideast security coordinator Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton has said behind closed doors that the Palestinian security forces operating in the West Bank are not adequately prepared to accept security responsibility over Palestinian cities. Barak told officials during his recent visit to the U.S. that Israel is interested in further easing restrictions on Palestinians, and to allow their security forces to operate in the West Bank, media reported.(23,50)