 Egypt is offering 750 border guards to keep smuggled weapons out of Gaza and is urging Syria to restrain Hamas and other militant groups from attacking Israel, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday. "We will do whatever is needed on our part," Gheit said before discussing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice his government's offer to help in Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
| But who are they guarding, and who are they guarding from? |
| That's easy, Steve. The arms smuggling will go much more smoothly with Egyptians at both ends of the tunnels... |
"We have a lot ahead of us," Rice said at a joint news conference after they met at the State Department. She emphasized that the Palestinians and Israel had the primary responsibility — the Palestinians to fight terror and Israel to help improve living conditions on the West Bank and in Gaza. Rice also renewed her demand that the two sides implement a roadkill map for peacemaking.
On a discordant note, Rice said she had raised with the foreign minister "our very strong concerns" about the arrest of the head of Egypt's opposition party on forgery charges. Rice said the detention of Ayman Nour, leader of the al-Ghad, or Tomorrow Party, was important to the administration, Congress and the American people, and said she had taken it up with Gheit "at some length."
| Heh, she noticed and brought it up. Good. |
Egypt will not send its own forces into the territory Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to begin turning over to the Palestinians later this year because there would be a risk of Egyptian casualties, Gheit said. But beside deploying border guards, the foreign minister said Egypt would send a few security officials to Gaza to assess the needs of Palestinian security forces, bring senior Palestinians to Egypt for training and ask Israel to approve stationing two Egyptian battalions along its border to guard against two-way smuggling.
| How about an engineering company to specialize in collapsing tunnels? |
"We have to keep pushing for implementing the Israeli pullout" from Gaza and northern parts of the West Bank, Gheit said.
Egypt, which helped Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reach a truce Feb. 8, is interceding with Syria to stop Hamas and other militant groups from attacking Israel, he said. Without providing any specifics, Gheit said Egypt was making headway with Syria on restraining militants and there would be further full-contact talks with Damascus. |