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EU, Egypt discuss stopping Hamas arms
Eu and Arab leaders gather to discuss the possibility of tasking a coalition naval armada with preventing the Palestinian Hamas' rearmament.
"We must put an end to the arms traffic," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Several of our countries have proposed ... to make available to Israel and Egypt all the technical, diplomatic and military - notably naval - means to help stop weapons smuggling into Gaza." The summit was convened a day after the unilateral declaration of truce by the Israeli forces who had been pounding the coastal area for 23 days. The raids killed 1,300 Palestinians wounding 5,300 others. Hamas The attendees at the Egypt gathering described reconstructive relief work as the summit's main aim while discussing the likelihood of a more stable replacement for the shaky ceasefire. Cairo, who closed its Rafah border crossing with the strip to fleeing Palestinians during the war, remained insistent on its refusal to meet an Israeli demand by allowing the presence of international observers at the border post. Britain promised multiplying its aid convoys to the area and the United Nations said the body would assign a team to assess humanitarian needs. Posted by: Fred 2009-01-20 |
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