GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The Palestinian Authority said Saturday it will disband a small security unit tainted by accusations of abuse, an initial step toward reforming its bloated network of overlapping and competing security forces.

Palestinian reformers, as well as Israeli and U.S. officials, have long demanded a major overhaul of the Palestinian security services but faced stiff resistance from Yasser Arafat, who used the bloated security network to maintain his hold on power.

The stalled U.S.-backed ''road map" peace plan also called for a restructuring of the forces but coupled that with a call for a crackdown on militant groups, a demand the Palestinians have opposed, saying it could spark a civil war.

Since Arafat's death Nov. 11, his successors have taken steps to restore confidence in a Palestinian leadership long accused of corruption, calling for elections to choose a new leader and promising to be more open and accountable.

As part of that effort, Palestinian Preventive Security chief Brig. Gen. Rashid Abu Shbak said Saturday he would abolish the Gaza Security and Protections unit -- nicknamed the ''death squad" by Palestinians -- in the wake of accusations that some members abused their powers and used intimidation to rule the streets of Gaza.

''We are facing a new phase and we must say farewell to chaos and to all those who cause it in the Palestinian street," Shbak said in Gaza City.

The 70-person unit was formed more than a year ago to crack down on militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and to track and arrest high-profile criminals in Gaza.

Instead, some members of the unit were accused of turning into criminals themselves, confiscating land, smuggling weapons and intimidating the general public with threats of violence.

The unit's members will be dispersed to other units in the security system, Shbak said.

Disbanding the unit was a relatively simple act. Merging and reforming the disparate security forces, whose rivalries have often erupted into violence, would be far more risky, pitting the nascent Palestinian leadership against angry security chiefs.

But demands have been increasing for such reforms, seen as a necessary step to instilling order in the Gaza Strip before Israel's planned pullout from the chaotic territory next year.

Shbak also announced plans to merge the ruling Fatah party's fragmented and decentralized armed militias, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis.