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Denmark hosts Gaza arms smuggling meeting
Experts from nine countries including the United States, Britain and France met in Copenhagen Wednesday to discuss ways of combating weapons smuggling into Gaza, the Danish foreign ministry said.

The meeting took place amid calls for demonstrations in Copenhagen denouncing what organizers called "the Danish government's one-sided acceptance of a pro-Israeli agenda."

The Initiative for a Free Palestine group sent out flyers calling for protests at the Danish foreign ministry to highlight the right of the Gaza population to defend itself from Israeli aggression.

" At the same time, it is important to ensure that an opening of the borders does not entail that the population of Gaza once again risk to be taken hostage by fighting initiated by Hamas "
Per Stig Moeller
No political decisions are expected at the two-day conference, which will focus more on arms trafficking from the sea than the underground tunnels between Egypt and the Palestinian territory.

The meeting "will seek to map the challenges related to illicit arms trafficking to Gaza, including the political, juridical, diplomatic and technical aspects of potential international contributions to handle this challenge," the ministry said in a statement.

The countries attending the meeting were invited for their "maritime expertise," the ministry said. The experts come from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States.



Posted by: Fred 2009-02-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=261666