Washington ? President Bush plans to ask Congress to provide $83 million for security forces controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to bolster him, curb the Islamic group Hamas and revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The move is part of a renewed effort by the White House and allies in the Middle East to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which some believe is critical to improving the situation in Iraq.

Ensuring that the funds go to forces loyal to Abbas is important because, by law, no U.S. assistance can go to Hamas, a militant Islamic group that controls the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet and is on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

Abbas’ Fatah party and Hamas are bitter rivals, and their members have clashed repeatedly in street battles that Palestinians fear could escalate into civil war.

“Clearly, our primary concern is to make sure that none of these funds in any way are able to be used by Hamas or benefit a Hamas-led government,” State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. “So we’re being very careful and scrupulous in building in those safeguards to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

Bush’s pending request is the latest component in a drive to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process and get the Israelis and Palestinians back on the so-called road map plan, a series of confidence-building measures that could lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.