The Palestinian leadership mounted a security operation in Bethlehem on Tuesday similar to those launched in other West Bank towns that have drawn charges of partisanship."The security plan is aimed against those who do not respect the law and is not intended as a basis for carrying out political arrests," Bethlehem security chief Colonel Suleiman Abu Hadid told a news conference. He added that the plan would not involve the deployment of any police reinforcements, unlike in the flashpoint city of Hebron where an additional 600 officers were deployed last month.

Bethlehem Governor Salah al-Taamari said 20 criminals were currently being sought by police in the town but insisted that the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ nonetheless remained a safe place for pilgrims and tourists. He cited as evidence the 1 million tourists who have visited the town this year.

Palestinian government spokesman Riad al-Malki said: "The Bethlehem operation forms part of the same framework as the security operations launched in other West Bank towns," including Jenin and Nablus as well as Hebron.

Last week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Jenin to see the security operation there for herself, hailing an "under-reported and undervalued element" in "the creation of the institutions of a future Palestinian state."

But the Islamist Hamas movement, which has ruled Gaza since its takeover of the territory in June 2007 after having routed Fatah in legislative polls in 2006, has accused the security forces of a partisan crackdown against its supporters.

The movement says the detention of more than 500 of its activists in the crackdown was one of the main reasons for its boycott of reconciliation talks in Cairo that were to have taken place on Monday