Washington, May 27: The US general advising Palestinian security forces may retire after five years in the post, a defense official said on Wednesday.
Lieutenant General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator for the Palestinian Authority, has put in a request to retire as required under military rules, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The request must be approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who previously asked Dayton to extend his tour.
Dayton, 61, has overseen military assistance to build up Palestinian security forces loyal to president Mahmud Abbas.
In the past two years, Palestinian security forces have imposed law and order in several West Bank towns that had been major militant bastions at the height of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
But while Israel has lauded their efforts and removed some of the hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks it maintains in the territory, it insists its own forces are responsible for the dramatic decline in violence.
–Agencies