MARJ EZ-ZOUHOUR (Uba non), Sept 8: Some 189 Palestinian Muslim fundamentalists expelled to South Lebanon by Israel last year will start to return on Thursday, their spokesman said Tuesday, reports AFP.

Abdel Aziz Rantlssi of the Islamic Resistance Movement (llamas) said he had been informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) In Israel that he would receive a list of the 189 names on Wednesday.

They would be repatriated starting the next day. after nine months at their Marj Ez-Zouhour camp, he said.

There are 396 Palestinian deportees stranded in no-man's land just north of Israel's self-declared "security zone" in South Lebanon, where they were dumped by Israeli authorities on December 17.

Israel expelled 415 Palestinians, suspected to be members of the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, before taking back 19 people who were deported In error.

Defence Ministry spokesman Oded Ben Ami said Monday that 189 pf the deportees would be repatriated before September 17. The rest are to return before the end of the year. Their return begins as Israel and the PLO are on the verge of mutual recognition and signing a historic deal for Palestinian autonomy starting tn the Gaza Strip, a Hamas hotbed, and the West Bank city of Jericho.

Both Hamas aaS the Islamic Jihad are fierce opponents of

the Middle East peace process.

In the makeshift camp at Marz Ez-Zouhour, preparations arc underway for the departure of nearly half the occupants, with deportees writing letters to be taken back home by those leaving.

The Israel army is also

making preparations at the Zcmraya crossing-point, where the deportees will pass into the security zone.

Three tents have been set up to be used for medical examinations and some 50 Israeli soldiers have arrived at the post.

which is usually held by Israel's proxy South Lebanon army militia.

Reuter adds: British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said on Tuesday he was sure Gulf Arab states would give the Palestinians money to finance a proposed self-rule agreement with Israel.

"1 think the political support Is there." Hurd told a news conference in Abu Dhabi. The financial needs are not yet specific (but)-.-l don't doubt there will be a specific response."

Hurd, who spent more than 90 minutes In a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Zaid Bln Sultan Al-Nahayan. said the proposed agreement between Israel and the Palestinians was "deserving of full support in the Arab world."

The British Foreign Secretary. who was flying to Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday, said he had been "heartened and encouraged" by his talks with Sheikh Zaid and a meeting he had in London on Monday with King Hussein of Jordan.

He hoped there would be reconciliation between Arab states divided over the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The situation Is changing. The Arab world Hke the rest of the world was to some extent divided about the Gulf War. Now there is another situation. The prospect of ending a very long ... dispute is changing the situation,' he said.

Hurd said the role of the Gulf Cooperation Council in hacking the Arab-Israeli agreement was an "Important factor."