CAIRO, Sept. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A Palestinian official on Saturday slammed an Israeli refusal to let 85 Palestinian security personnel enter Egypt for training.

   "The Israeli move is a new proof that Israel attempts to torpedo any effort to defuse regional tension," Mohamed Sobeih, Palestine's permanent representative to the Arab League, told Xinhua.

   Earlier in the day, the Palestinian team was denied entry by Israeli border police at the Rafah crossing neighboring Egypt.

   Among the total, 45 Palestinian security servicemen are scheduled to start a six to seven-week training course in Egypt to prepare for a promised Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while the rest are to join the Egyptian Police Academy.

   "The 45 security personnel are expected to fulfill security responsibilities after the Israeli pullout, and their training course is part of a plan set by Egypt to ensure security in the strip," Sobeih said.

   In August, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented an accelerated Gaza pullout timetable to lawmakers of his ruling Likud party.

   The formula sets the evacuation starting from the beginning of next year, advancing the original schedule by about eight months.

   Sharon plans to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip and four other isolated enclaves in the northern West Bank by the end of next year and withdraw troops.

   Fearing that post-pull off vacuum could lead to chaos in the Gaza Strip, Egypt has offered to send 150 to 200 officers and security experts on a six-month mission to help train a 30,000-strong Palestinian security force.

   It has also voiced its willingness to increase the number of its troops on the border with the Gaza Strip.

   Egypt has claimed that it would not send experts to the Gaza Strip in light of Israel's continuous military actions against the Palestinians. Enditem