- 15 sept 2010
Egyptian coastguards fire at Palestinian fishing boat
GAZA, (PIC)-- Egyptian coastguards opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat that was fishing near the Egyptian marine borders on Wednesday morning, Palestinian fishermen said.
They added that an Egyptian navy cruiser attacked them in the morning, as soldiers on board fired in the air before hitting the fishing boat with three bullets, and ordered the fishermen to leave the area after insulting them.
An Egyptian gunboat had deliberately rammed into a small Palestinian fishing boat last May killing a fisherman on board.
http://bit.ly/cNuf45
Hamas leaders banned from entering Egypt
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities will prevent a number of Hamas leaders from traveling through the country en route to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj.
Hamas officials told Ma'an that among the leaders prohibited from accessing Egypt are lawmaker Salah Al-Bardawil and spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum.
Abu Zuhri confirmed the ban, saying he was informed by Hamas' leadership that "an Egyptian official made contact and notified us of Egypt's refusal to allow a number of Hamas leaders to travel for Hajj."
He added: "We're talking about a religious pilgrimage. This really shouldn't be used to play politics."
The move is likely to complicate already tense relations between Cairo and the Islamic movement.
In September, high-ranking Hamas official Ismail Radwan said party leader-in-exile Khaled Mash'al met with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman over progress made on unity talks with Fatah.
The discussion was also key to improving ties with Egypt, which has blamed Hamas for the death of a border guard in 2009 and is in general allied with the Fatah-backed Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
Hamas accuses Egypt of complicity in Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave, ongoing for four years, as it has with limited exceptions kept the Rafah crossing closed to most goods and strictly limited movement.
Egypt insists that its closure policy is for security reasons, and has implicated Hamas in an incident over the summer in which militants in the Sinai peninsula fired projectiles into southern Israel and Jordan.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=324351
18 dec 2010, 18:12 , Respect -
Maria 16 sept 2010
Egyptian police: Bombed tunnel for sugar transport
AL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities said officers seized three smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border on Thursday morning, in addition to several tons of sugar prepared for transport into the coastal enclave.
One of the three tunnels seized, Egyptian sources added, was bombed a day earlier by the Israeli airforce. The tunnel emerged in Egypt's As-Sarsourya area in Rafah.
On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes hit two tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip. A statement from the Israeli military said the strike targeted a tunnel on the Philadelphi corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border, and added that it was a "Hamas operated tunnel ... used to smuggle terrorists into the Gaza Strip so that they could execute attacks against Israeli civilians."
Two other tunnels were seized by Egyptian officials, sources said, both located in the Salah Ad-Din area. No goods or smugglers were found during the raids, police noted.
A report from Egyptian security said that so far, 550 smuggling tunnels had been shut down, noting that 15 of them had been dug for the transport of cars into Gaza.
On Thursday, Israeli officials informed Palestinian crossing liaison officers that an earlier decision to allow cars to enter the Gaza Strip had been reversed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315396
18 dec 2010, 18:13 , Respect -
Maria 18 sept 2010
Gaza man arrested in transit at Cairo airport over links to Hamas
GAZA, (PIC)-- Egyptian authorities arrested a Palestinian man six days back in the Cairo International Airport on his return trip from Makkah after performing Umrah in the holy land, sources in Gaza said, adding that police gave no justification for the arrest.
Debabeche had traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah (the smaller pilgrimage) rites this Ramadan after he was given permission to enter Egypt from Gaza en route to Saudi Arabia.
Hamas denounced the arrest, asserting that Egypt should not outlaw Hamas affiliates from entry into Egypt.
30 Palestinian activists from Gaza Strip are currently detained in Egyptian prisons on charges of belonging to Palestinian organizations. Some have spent more than six years there.
Debabeche is a Palestinian citizen who left to perform the Umrah rites with the knowledge and consent of the Egyptian authorities, so why did they betray him on his return through their land and arrest him? one Hamas official said in a press statement.
Supposing Debabeche was a Hamas leader, is there any Egyptian law prohibiting Hamas leaders from entering their land or using it for transit? he added.
If the answer is, yes, Egypt should clearly announce that, and should not arrest people who perform Umrah during their return from Umrah rites, he went on to say.
Egypt should release Debabeche immediately, the source said, calling on the Saudi government to pressure Egypt to show respect for Muslim pilgrims and worshippers who visit Saudi Arabian holy sites and secure their safe return home.
Egyptian authorities earlier prevented PLC First Deputy Speaker Ahmad Bahar and dozens of other Hamas supporters from traveling outside of the Gaza Strip through Egypt for religious and other reasons.
http://bit.ly/abgtJo
Egypt declares state of emergency on Gaza border
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities on Saturday declared a state of emergency on its borders with Gaza, security sources said.
The move came after Egyptian authorities received information that Palestinians were entering Egypt from Gaza via underground tunnels, sources said, reporting that forces monitoring a tunnel entrance saw five Palestinians leave the tunnel. Security forces chased them, and they ran back into the tunnel, sources added.
Egyptian police stopped an attempt to smuggle cars into Gaza on Saturday, after receiving information that smugglers were digging a tunnel under the border, sources said, adding that the smugglers fled following armed clashes with security forces. Sources further said that police seized a car prepared for smuggling at the scene, and uncovered a store of cars near tunnel entrances in Rafah.
Under Israel's siege of Gaza, the import of cars into the Strip has been banned since 2007. Palestinian crossing liaison officers were notified Thursday that a recent decision to allow cars into Gaza had been canceled by Israeli authorities.
The underground tunnel complex was created along the Egypt-Gaza border to bring supplies into the Strip in the wake of Israel's siege on the coastal enclave.
The tunnels are used to transport a number of goods made unavailable as a result of the siege, including fuel, food, medicines, livestock, vehicles, and, according to Israel, weapons.
Egyptian police continue a campaign to close the tunnels, occasionally detonating the Egyptian side of the passageways. Unconfirmed reports that officers pump poisonous gasses into the areas have also surfaced.
Twelve tunnel workers were rescued from two tunnel accidents on Friday. Civil defense crews evacuated nine workers after they reported being suffocated by gas while underground. In a separate incident, three workers were rescued after a tunnel collapsed over them.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315898
18 dec 2010, 18:13 , Respect -
Maria 19 sept 2010
Top Hamas security official detained at Cairo airport
CAIRO, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egypt detained a top Hamas security official at the Cairo International Airport, an Egyptian security source said Sunday.
The official was identified as the Hamas government's General Security Service Commander Muhammad Dabaeesh, also known as Abu Radwan.
The source said the detention was made in connection to a thwarted attempt to smuggle millions of dollars worth of wireless devices into Gaza through the border-tunnel complex.
Hamas officials warned that the detention would spark "degradation and tension" in Egypt-Hamas relations, already strained for several months.
In May, the Islamist movement denied reports that Egypt has frozen all contact with Hamas but said relations between Gaza and Cairo were tense following an escalation in security measures by Egyptian forces along the Gaza border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=315943
Report: Egypt warns of immediate terror threat from Sinai
Hamas militants reportedly smuggled Grad rockets from Gaza to Egypt, with intention of firing them at Israel and Jordan.
Egyptian security forces have raised their security alert across the Sinai Peninsula after receiving detailed warning that Palestinian militants were planning to fire rockets from within the territory at Israel and Jordan, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported on Sunday.
The security forces believe that a militant cell comprising mostly Hamas members infiltrated the peninsula through tunnels dug along the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, smuggling with them long-range Grad rockets. The militants were planning to launch their attacks in the near future, according to the news agency.
Five Grad-type Katyusha rockets were fired last month from Sinai at Eilat and the neighboring Jordanian port city of Aqaba.
Two of those rockets fell in the Red Sea in Israeli territory, and a third exploded in an agricultural field within Israel. The other two rockets struck a populated hotel zone in Aqaba.
None of the rockets that struck Israeli territory caused any casualties or damages, but one person was killed and three others wounded in Jordan.
About three-and-a-half months ago, two Katyushas measuring 107 mm in diameter were fired from northern Sinai at the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
One of those rockets struck an industrial area near Aqaba and the other two landed in the Gulf of Eilat. There were no casualties in that incident. Jordanian and Israeli security forces launched a joint inquiry into the matter immediately.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-egypt-warns-of-immediate-terror-threat-from-sinai-1.314629
25 dec 2010, 12:01 , Respect -
Maria 20 sept 2010
Egyptians step up police presence, security in Sinai
Officials: Top Hamas security official Mahmoud Dababash arrested in Cairo airport with fake documents as Cairo fears rocket attacks on Israel.
Egyptian security forces are on high alert in Sinai because of intelligence information about planned Palestinian rocket attacks from Egypt on Israel.
They are investigating reports of plans to smuggle rockets from Gaza into Egypt and then fire them into Israel, officials said. So far, no rockets have turned up.
The officials say hundreds of police and private agents been deployed along the border, at entry points to Sinai and along checkpoints. According to Channel 1, Egyptian forces were chasing after a Palestinian terror cell through Sinai.
Israeli defense officials said that they were closely watching events in the Sinai Peninsula, which has been used in the past by Hamas to fire rockets into Israel, particularly Eilat.
Last week, the US Embassy in Jordan warned of an imminent threat around the port of Aqaba, which while not explained was understood as possibly connected to the increased terror alert in Sinai, where Egyptian security forces are said to be hunting down Hamas terrorist cells.
According to intelligence assessments in Israel, Hamas has made a strategic decision to increase its terrorist attacks against Israel in the West Bank as well as from the Gaza Strip to torpedo the Israel- Palestinian Authority peace talks.
While Hamas is not always directly behind the attacks it is allowing proxies that it supports and which are affiliated with global jihad elements to launch rockets and mortars into Israel. Hamas, however, has restrained them from carrying out larger attacks.
Sinai is a convenient launch pad for attacks on Israel since it grants the terrorist groups a degree of deniability. If rockets are fired from Gaza, Hamas is automatically blamed. If they are launched from Sinai, Israel would not immediately be able to accuse Hamas and would have to rely on intelligence services to verify that the Palestinian terrorist group was involved.
Meanwhile, a top Hamas security official was arrested at Cairo airport for using falsified travel documents, Egyptians officials said on Sunday.
Muhammad Dababish's relatives said he was returning from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia when he was stopped.
Dababish is a top official in Hamas's internal security unit, which oversees intelligence matters in Gaza. According to Hamas's news media, Dababish, also known as Abu Radwan, is responsible for the group's general security, intelligence operations and weapon and equipment smuggling into Gaza.
Hamas threatened that Dababish's arrest would lead to a deterioration in relations with Egypt and called for his release, according to Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
We will operate in a manner which will force the Egyptian leadership to release Abu Radwan, Hamas said in a statement.
Egypt has arrested a string of Hamas figures since one of its soldiers was killed in a border shooting early this year, including the son of a Hamas cabinet minister last month.
Egypt believes a Hamas sniper was responsible for the shooting.
Dababish was on a wanted list for using falsified travel documents to enter and leave Egypt, the officials said.
He was also questioned about an illegal shipment of walkietalkies interdicted by police in Sinai and apparently destined for Gaza, they added.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=188618
25 dec 2010, 12:02 , Respect -
Maria 21 sept 2010
Hamas: Egypt using open border to trap officials
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas accused Cairo Tuesday of using the Rafah crossing's opening to detain party officials as they travel abroad via Egypt following the detention of the Gaza government's intelligence chief in Cairo.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told reporters that opening the border to trap Hamas officials was "unacceptable and inappropriate," following the detention of General Security Service Commander Muhammad Dabaeesh, also known as Abu Radwan, at the Cairo International Airport.
"Several Hamas leaders and affiliates have been blacklisted by Egypt and cannot travel through Egyptian areas," Barhoum said, adding that added that "tension peaked" when Dabaeesh was detained after traveling being permitted through the Rafah crossing.
Barhoum called the incident a trap, saying that if Dabbish was persona non grata in Egypt, than he should have been notified.
The spokesman said Dabaeesh, a member of the Hamas unity negotiations team, traveled to Cairo in 2009 several times to discuss possible routes to reconciliation with Fatah and in early 2010 traveled to Saudi Arabia via Egypt.
"He has never been denied passage, and never been accused of anything," Barhoum said.
Gaza government leaders asked Egyptian intelligence for an explanation into the detention and were told that the officials would be released on Saturday, Barhoum said. "The release was postponed to Sunday, and then Monday, and Dabbish is still in detention," the spokesman said.
"Egyptian media boasted the detention of Dabaeesh describing it as a major strike to Hamas ... The reports even claimed he was smuggling communications equipment and cash for Hamas."
An Egyptian security source told Ma'an of Dabaeesh's arrest at the airport and said the arrest was made in connection to a thwarted attempt to smuggle millions of dollars worth of wireless devices into Gaza through the border-tunnel complex.
Hamas officials at the time warned that the detention would spark "degradation and tension" in Egypt-Hamas relations, already strained for several months.
In May, the Islamist movement denied reports that Egypt had frozen all contact with Hamas but said relations between Gaza and Cairo were tense following an escalation in security measures by Egyptian forces along the Gaza border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=316695
1 jan 2011, 15:54 , Respect -
Maria 22 sept 2010
Egypt releases Hamas minister's son
GAZA (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities on Wednesday released Muhammad Na'im, the son of the Gaza government's minister of health, Basim Na'im, after detaining him for six months.
Witnesses said a large number of Gaza residents and Hamas supporters received Muhammad Na'im at the Rafah crossing and escorted him to his home in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
Muhammad left Gaza to Egypt for study and he was detained by Egyptian security in April 2010.
Relations have been tense between Hamas in Gaza and the Egyptian authorities, and Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was quoted Tuesday as saying Egypt opened the Rafah crossing only as a trap for Hamas dignitaries after the detention of Muhammad Dabaeesh.
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=317121
2 jan 2011, 01:32 , Respect -
Maria 23 sept 2010
Abu Zuhri: Debabesh did not violate Egyptian laws
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, asked the Egyptian government to revise its "wrong and unjustified policies" toward the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Abu Zuhri told Quds Press on Wednesday that statements by the Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman that Debabesh had violated Egyptian laws were "unacceptable", noting that Debabesh was not an Egyptian national and had previously entered Egypt only as member of the Palestinian dialog. He explained that Debabesh did not stay in Egypt long enough to violate Egyptian laws.
The detention of Debabesh harms the role of Cairo, which patronizes the inter-Palestinian dialog, since it arrested a member of that negotiations team, the spokesman elaborated.
He said that Debabesh's detention fell in line with the policy of kidnapping Palestinians and torturing and killing them in Egyptian jails, which raised the ire of Arabs and Palestinians.
Abu Zuhri asked Cairo to revise its policies and to release all Palestinian detainees and to stop the brutal torture of them. He also called for an urgent Arab intervention to save Debabseh and other detainees whose lives are in danger in Egyptian jails.
The Arab League should assume its duties toward the Egyptian humiliation of the Palestinian people, he said.
http://bit.ly/cp5X3V
5 jan 2011, 11:00 , Respect -
Maria 24 sept 2010
Egypt releases Hamas leader
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities released Hamas General Security Service Commander Muhammad Dabaeesh, also known as Abu Radwan, on Friday, after detaining him at Cairo International Airport ten days earlier.
Following the arrest, Hamas officials in Gaza accused Egypt of using the Rafah crossing as a lure to bring Hamas officials outside of the Strip, and detain them later. Officials said Egypt had a duty to announce if an official was a persona non grata, and if they were not than they should be left without harassment.
Dabaeesh was returning to Cairo from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Media reports of his arrest in Egypt said he was accused of smuggling cash into Gaza for Hamas, but no charges were laid.
Hamas officials had contacted the Egyptian government requesting his release.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=317627
6 jan 2011, 19:23 , Respect -
Maria 25 sept 2010
Egyptian sources: Dababesh and Naim were released after contacts made by Hamas
CAIRO, (PIC)-- High-level Egyptian sources said that the release of senior Hamas official Mohamed Dababesh and the health minister's son Mohamed Naim happened following intensive contacts and top meetings between Hamas and Egyptian officials.
The sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the release of other Palestinian detainees in Egypt would take place gradually in accordance with specific mechanisms agreed upon between Hamas and Egyptian officials in Saudi Arabia.
He noted that Dababesh and Naim were both released after a meeting between Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal and Egyptian intelligence director Omar Suleiman, adding other prisoners will be set free in the framework of the meetings held for the inter-Palestinian reconciliation in Cairo.
Another meeting in Cairo will be held soon between a delegation from Hamas and Egyptian officials after a delegation from Fatah finishes its meetings with Hamas leadership in Syria, the sources said.
For his part, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri affirmed that the Egyptian authorities released at noon Friday Dababesh who was arrested upon his return from a minor pilgrimage trip in Saudi Arabia, expressing hope that the Egyptian side would close the file of Palestinian detainees in its jails forever.
http://bit.ly/arvqb0
12 jan 2011, 16:48 , Respect -
Maria 26 sept 2010
Egyptian security uncovers weapons cache in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces seized a cache of explosives in the Sinai Pensinsula on Sunday, security sources said.
Officials investigated reports from locals who had found debris which appeared to be remains of a projectile 20 kilometers west of the coastal town El-Arish.
Security forces said the rocket left over from a previous war with Israel, but on moving the rocket to detonate it, officers uncovered a weapons depot containing half a ton of TNT explosives and anti-aircraft shells. The ammunition was packaged in bags ready to be smuggled through underground tunnels into Gaza, sources said.
According to the source, the rocket was detonated and the area closed. Residents who had reported the rocket were questioned, but none were detained.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318268
Egypt: Shalit likely moved to new hideout
Cairo sources say recent arrest of senior Hamas operative privy to kidnapped Israeli soldier's location has prompted Gaza Islamist group to order he be moved immediately.
The recent arrest of Mohammed Dababish, a top Hamas intelligence officer, in Egypt has prompted the Gaza group to move kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit to a new hideout, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.
According to Cairo's intelligence services, Dababish is among of a handful of Hamas officials who know exactly where Shalit is being held and who his captors are. His arrest 10 day ago for allegedly trying to use a fake passport to cross from Egypt to Gaza is believed to have sparked considerable concern within the Islamist group.
Egyptian intelligence sources ventured that following the arrest, the Israeli soldier's captures were ordered to move him to a new location immediately.
Dababish's arrest, according to several sources, was made possible following information given to Cairo's intelligence services by their Israeli and American counterparts.
It has also come to light that a recent Egyptian warning to Israel about Palestinian militants plan to fire missiles at Israel from Sinai derived from information Dababish gave his interrogators.
Cairo has rejected Hamas' demand to release their operative, who the group claims was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia when he was arrested.
Egypt however, believed Dababish was returning from the Strip from Damascus, where he devised a plan to smuggle weapons into Gaza Strip.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3959855,00.html
Resheq: Egypt not against reconciliation understandings between Hamas and Fatah
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Member of Hamas political bureau Ezzet Al-Resheq stated Saturday that Egypt does not mind if there are Palestinian understandings agreed upon between Hamas and Fatah factions before the signing of its reconciliation paper.
In a statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Resheq said the meeting between Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal and a Fatah delegation in Damascus on Friday would not have taken place without the important meeting in the holy month of Ramadan between Mishaal and Egyptian intelligence director Omar Suleiman in Makkah.
He added that the Mishaal-Suleiman meeting paved the way for Damascus meeting between Hamas and Fatah officials.
The Hamas official explained that Suleiman clearly told Mishaal in Makkah that Cairo has no reservations on inter-Palestinian understandings reached between Hamas and Fatah before a reconciliation agreement is signed.
Suleiman also stated that Egypt insists on its position on not opening its reconciliation paper, but it would take into account and abide by any certain understandings agreed upon by Hamas and Fatah in the course of implementing the reconciliation agreement, the official affirmed.
As for the meeting between Mishaal and Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed on Friday, he described it as a real start to end the division in the Palestinian arena and reach a reconciliation agreement as soon as possible, noting there would be another meeting in this regard between Hamas and Fatah delegations in the coming days.
In the same context, member of Fatah central committee Azzam Al-Ahmed told Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Saturday that the Damascus meeting opened the door for a possible reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
Al-Ahmed noted that the meeting was not on the resumption of dialog sessions but on all disagreement points that hampered Hamas's signing of Egypt's reconciliation paper.
http://bit.ly/9FPjjH
15 jan 2011, 10:43 , Respect -
Maria 27 sept 2010
Egypt`s Press: Gaza Aid Convoy, Israel at the IAEA and settlements
CAIRO: Egypt`s Press last week highlighted three political events that are related to Egypt`s foreign policy. It highlighted Egypt`s decision to ban former British MP George Galloway from entering its territory on the sidelines of the land convoy carrying aid to the Gaza Strip and organized by Galloway`s Organization Viva Palestina, which is scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Monday en route to El Arish port to enter Gaza.
Egyptian Press also highlighted President Mubarak`s recent visit to Italy, and his urgent call on Israel to continue its freeze of the construction of settlements in the West Bank in order to bolster the current round of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Local Press also highlighted the differences between Egypt and Israel at the IAEA general conference last Wednesday, which took place in Vienna, in which Egypt`s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency submitted a proposal to urge Israel to sign the non-proliferation treaty, which led to accusations by the Israeli Representative against the Egyptian side, which then prompted Egypt`s Representative to lash out against the Israeli position on the treaty.
Earlier in the week, the spokesman of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Hossam Zaki noted that Galloway is a Persona Non-Grata and that he is prohibited from entering the country and that the Egyptian Embassies in the countries that have participants in his convoy were informed that the convoy has to abide by Egypt`s regulation of convoys.
Galloway, the coordinator of the Viva Palestina 5 aid convoy, in turn, said he would lead the convoy to Gaza despite Egypt's decision to prohibit his entry into the country.
I have no wish to fight with the Egyptian government, Galloway said. My fight is with Israel.
Al-Masry al-Youm reported a press statement by North Sinai governor Mourad Mowafi, who said Galloway would not be allowed to enter Egypt, but the aid convoy would be allowed to enter Gaza via the Rafah Crossing.
Galloway responded to a statement made by Zaki that denied his entrance by saying, I intend to continue to lead this convoy and I appeal to the Egyptian government to reconsider the decision announced in Cairo. I was not deported from Egypt and I am not persona non grata there. No official notification of either has ever been conveyed to me.
Egyptian Newspapers noted that the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, during his meeting with the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a temporary moratorium on the building of settlements in the West Bank and called on the international community to stay united behind the peace talks.
Israel should extend the moratorium on settlement construction that is about to end, Mubarak said in Rome after meeting with Berlusconi.
I repeat the need for everyone to unite their efforts for the success of the negotiations, said Mubarak, who was in Rome to attend the opening of an Egyptian museum.
US-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel are nearing a critical juncture with the scheduled Sept. 26 expiration of Israel's 10-month moratorium on settlement construction. Netanyahu has said repeatedly he doesn't plan to extend the freeze. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he'll abandon the talks, which began earlier this month, if construction resumes.
Mubarak hosted the second round of talks in Sharm el-Sheikh on September 14.
On the other hand, a Diplomatic battle broke out in Vienna at the headquarters of the IAEA during a General Conference between Egypt and Israel's representatives to the IAEA.
In response to Egypt`s proposal to the conference to urge Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israel's delegate to the IAEA conference, Shaul Horev, presented Israel's nuclear policy and explained its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
Horev criticized Egypt for attacking Israel, and mentioned the fact that Egypt has not yet approved the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty.
According to Egyptian and Israeli Newspapers, Egypt's representative, Ali Omar Sirry, responded to the speech by using a Hebrew word, commonly used in English, meaning shamelessness.
In response, Sirry said that Israel's remarks demonstrate the full meaning of the word chutzpah.
Sirry continued, saying Egypt is making real efforts to create a nuclear-free Middle-East, while Israel's attempts are merely lip service.
The Egyptian proposal also mentions Israel's nuclear reactor facility in Dimona, and requests that international inspectors be given access to it.
http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=17507
15 jan 2011, 19:56 , Respect -
Maria 28 sept 2010
Egypt detains 12 migrants along Israel-Sinai border
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces stopped two groups of African migrants attempting to cross the border into Israel from the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, a security source said.
The source said forces spotted eight migrants near the Taba crossing trying to breach the fence into Israel. "The officers hailed the migrants who submitted without resistance and were identified as Sudanese nationals from Darfur," the source explained.
Separately, four migrants including a mother and child were stopped in the same area. They were referred to questioning during which they told officers they had paid smugglers to help them enter Israel for work.
The Israel-Egypt border is frequently used by African migrants seeking work or political asylum.
The UN has criticized Egypt for its use of legal force to stop migrants from breaching the border, with Amnesty International saying at least 26 migrants were killed along the border between mid-2007 and August 2008.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318845
17 jan 2011, 00:14 , Respect -
Maria 29 sept 2010
Mash'al, Egypt intelligence chief meet over unity deal
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A high-ranking Hamas official said Wednesday that party leader-in-exile Khaled Mash'al met with Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman over progress made on unity talks with Fatah.
Ismail Radwan told Ma'an that "in the coming days, we will witness a meeting between Hamas and Fatah delegations to complete agreements on disputed points that will be signed and then agree to steps on conciliation."
Radwan denied, however, that Cairo had invited a Hamas delegation to Egypt to discuss the unity deal, which officials from both parties have said has shown significant progress since a meeting in Damascus last week.
Earlier Wednesday, senior Fatah official and Palestinian Legislative Council member Azzam Al-Ahmad said the ratification of a unity deal with Hamas is nearing as officials are scheduled to meet over the last disputed terms next week.
Al-Ahmad said once the last issues, relating to internal security and the restructuring of the security services, are agreed on in meetings in Damascus over the first week of October, party officials will head to Cairo to finalize the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation document.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319169
21 jan 2011, 16:08 , Respect -
Maria 1 oct 2010
Egypt shuts down 580th tunnel
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces seized eight smuggling tunnels in the Salah Ad-Din area of Rafah on Friday, police sources said.
The state intelligence department received information regarding the operation of the tunnels, an official said, describing them as 1.5 meters wide and running six meters underground.
Operating only 12 meters away from the border area, officials said the passages were closed, adding that they did not find any goods or smuggling personnel during the raid.
Egyptian officials said guards were on heightened alert and had blocked the tunnels with stones.
Records say that as of the end of September, Egyptian police had shut down 580 smuggling tunnels, including 15 used for transporting cars.
Since Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip four years ago, smugglers have brought goods into the besieged enclave from Egypt through underground tunnels.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319837