[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: In addition to the 75,000 armed Palestinians
drawing salaries in the PA as reported below there are large groups in the
Fatah militias as well as other illegal Palestinian militias.]

FACTBOX-How rival Palestinian forces stack up
Sun 17 Dec 2006 4:27 AM ET
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L17867126

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah has called
for early elections, stoking fears of civil war between Fatah's forces and
those loyal to the ruling Hamas faction. Here's how the rivals stack up
militarily:

ABBAS'S PRESIDENTIAL GUARD

With U.S. backing, Abbas's elite presidential guard has grown to at least
4,000 men, up from 2,500 members when Hamas took power in March.

Last week, Hamas accused the presidential guard and a Fatah strongman of
trying to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as his convoy was
leaving the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Fatah denies the
charge.

U.S. plans call for expanding the presidential guard to at least 4,700
members in the near term. Palestinian officials say the force would
eventually grow to at least 10,000 members.

The United States and Israel have also backed a proposal by Abbas to let
about 1,000 members of the so-called Badr Brigade, a Fatah-dominated force
based in Jordan, into the Palestinian territories to reinforce Abbas's
guard.

Under U.S. guidance, European states have committed non-lethal equipment,
including vehicles, to the presidential guard. Washington has also helped
organise shipments of guns and ammunition to the guard from Egypt and
Jordan.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week that the Bush
administration, pending U.S. congressional approval, would provide tens of
millions of dollars in direct support to strengthen Abbas's forces.

ABBAS'S GENERAL INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES

Under Abbas's control, General Intelligence is believed to have 5,000
members. Fatah has accused Hamas of killing several of the unit's leaders in
the Gaza Strip in recent months.

The killing a week ago of three schoolboys, whose father was an intelligence
official considered close to Abbas, deepened the divide between Fatah and
Hamas. Hamas denies involvement.

National Security Forces under Abbas's direct command include Military
Intelligence and the Naval Police. They are not as well equipped as the
presidential guard but are believed to have up to 30,000 members in all.

HAMAS'S EXECUTIVE FORCE

First deployed by the Hamas-led government on the streets of Gaza in May,
Hamas says its "Executive Force" has grown from an estimated 3,000 members
to nearly 6,000.

The force is built mostly from members of the Hamas armed wing, the Izz
el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, but it includes some members from allied
militant factions such as the Popular Resistance Committees.

The force appears to be well equipped using the group's own resources.
Israel and the United States believe Iran has provided tens of millions of
dollars in support to bolster the force. Hamas does not provide any
information about the force's sources of funding.

PALESTINIAN POLICE AND PREVENTIVE SECURITY

In theory, these fall under the jurisdiction of the Hamas-controlled
Interior Ministry. But in practice, they are dominated by loyalists of
Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas has struggled to exert control over them.
Their total strength is estimated at about 30,000.