High-speed pursuit vehicles, two-way radios, raincoats and handcuffs figured high on the wish list presented by the Palestinian Authority to the international community yesterday as part of a concerted attempt to build up its police force.

More than €100 million (£80 million) was pledged at the one-day Berlin conference, which drew representatives - including 23 foreign ministers - from 41 countries.

“This will be a small piece in the great mosaic of reconstruction,” Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said. The aim, she added, was to create the conditions for a viable Palestinian state and that meant boosting its ability to maintain law and order within its borders.

The members of the Middle East Quartet - the US, Russia, the UN and the EU, as well as its official envoy, Tony Blair - met last night after the donor debate.

“More security for the Palestinians means more security for Israel,” said Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, making plain that Israel did not regard a more-muscular and more- efficient Palestinian police force as a threat. That meant putting an agreed price tag on the 142-page catalogue of needs and demands compiled by the Ramallah-based police chief, Major-General Hazim Atallah. His top requirement is training for new recruits to add to the 6,750 already deployed on the West Bank. The basic cost: $23.5 million (£12 million).

The conference did not touch on the Gaza Strip. Since Hamas seized power there, the international community has refused to talk to the radical group until it renounces violence and recognises Israel's right to exist.

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