Abbas calls for international force in Gaza

RAMALLAH (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday called for an international force in the Gaza Strip, which is now controlled by the rival Hamas movement.

"We have insisted on the necessity of deploying an international force in the Gaza Strip to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid and to allow citizens to enter and leave freely," Abbas said at a joint news conference in Ramallah after talks with visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

The call threatened to further widen the yawning Palestinian chasm, as Hamas has warned that it would not accept any foreign troops in Gaza and would treat them as an occupying power.