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| Middle East |
| Egypt won't send forces to PA... |
| 2002-07-14 |
| President Hosni Mubarak says Egypt will not send military forces to the Gaza Strip in an effort to maintain order in the Palestinian areas. Wonder if they changed their minds because the operation was blown a couple weeks ago? Mubarak told the semi-government Al Ahram daily on Friday that Egypt does not intend to send forces to Palestinian areas despite the erosion of the Palestinian Authority. He denied that Cairo had ever pledged to maintain security in the Gaza Strip, disputing assertions that such a promise was relayed by the late President Anwar Sadat when he signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. "Egypt cannot send in forces to maintain security in the Palestinian territories," Mubarak said. Did I just hear a sigh of relief from Khan Younis? Arab diplomatic sources had raised the prospect of Egyptian military intervention in the Gaza Strip in an effort to prop up Arafat's regime. The sources said such a prospect was discussed during the visit last week by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to Israel and the PA. I wonder if that's a real "no" or it's an idea to go onto the back burner for after the IDF cleans the place out? I suspect it's a real "no," because a serious clean-out would have repercussions later if a rational Paleostinian state doesn't come into being... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |