After a last minute delay by the Israeli side the official signing of an agreement formalizing the handover of the West Bank town of Jericho to Palestinian security control was concluded Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, officers from both sides had arrived at a liaison office to sign the handover document. However, Israeli officers said they could not sign it until they had presented the protocol to legal advisers, said Ahmed Eid, a Palestinian commander.
A Palestinian liaison official said the agreement was not ready to be signed "for technical reasons" and that the official handover would likely take place Thursday. However, after a few hours the Israeli side signed the document.
Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers had already dismantled a roadblock on the outskirts of Jericho, and Palestinian police had taken up new positions in town, The AP reported.
Jericho is to be the first of five West Bank cities to revert to Palestinian control in coming weeks.
