Abbas to get armoured vehicles but not with guns

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Armoured vehicles will be delivered to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces within the next month, a Palestinian government minister said on Friday.

Israel agreed in November to allow the Palestinians to receive up to 50 lightly armoured vehicles but a dispute emerged over a Palestinian demand that they have guns mounted on them.

Riyad al-Malki, who serves as both foreign and information minister in Abbas's Western-backed government, said the Palestinians dropped the demand for now, clearing the way for delivery of the vehicles without mounted guns.

"It won't take longer than a month," Malki said of the first shipment. "We will raise the issue again with the Israeli side in order to have the guns mounted on the armoured vehicles."

Israel agreed to an initial delivery of 25 armoured trucks and said an additional 25 could be authorised if Abbas's forces make progress exerting greater security control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The vehicles had been offered to the Palestinians by Russia several years ago but the transfer was put on hold after the Hamas Islamic group won elections in January 2006.

(Reporting by Mohammed Assadi; Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Charles Dick)