Egypt asks for national troop deployment in Sinai, Israeli refuse

Wednesday December 26, 2007 16:26 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Israeli delegation officials that are visiting Egypt said that they will refuse the demands made by Egypt to deploy 2000 of its troops in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Israeli PM Ehod Olmert - File 2007

The Israeli delegation is headed by the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the visit started on Wednesday. Egypt had asked Israel to agree on the deployment of the 2000 troops to assist the already existing Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula between Israel and Egypt.

Egyptian officials said that the deployment was to help prevent the smuggling of weapons through Sinai into the Gaza strip.

Amos Gilad, the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's political security department, told Israeli media that Israel is not willing to change the peace agreement with Egypt, considering that the additional troops would be a change in the peace agreement between the two states.

Egypt and Israel reached a peace agreement in the 70s shortly after the 1973 war between the countries in which Egypt had regained control over the Sinai Peninsula. Israel had occupied Sinai 1967. Recently Israeli Egyptian relations have witnessed a high tension over the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza strip.

Israeli officials including the Israeli Foreign Minister Zipe Livni stated that Egyptian troops at the borders allow the weapons to reach Gaza, Egypt denied the accusations. Egyptian officials are also upset with Israel for the recent move when the latter handed over a video tape to the US administration showing Egyptian troops not doing anything while weapon smugglers pass them by.

Prior to his visit to Egypt, Barak told media agencies that the Israeli Egyptian peace is a strategic one and is a very valuable asset to Israel; he added "that when the two states disagree they resolve it." The Israeli delegation had met with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak 'Omar Suleimaan, the Egyptian chief of intelligence.

During this meeting, Barak discussed the alleged continuation of arms smuggling from Sinai into the Gaza Strip, and the efforts to achieve a truce between the Palestinian resistance groups and Israel.

Israeli media sources claimed last week that the deposed Hamas Prime Minister Isma'el Hannyiah had made a truce offer to Israel, which they refused, in which Israel would stop its attacks on the Gaza strip in return for the Palestinian resistance to stop the firing of home made shells into nearby Israeli towns Hannyiahs office have denied such a move made by him.

The Israeli army surrounds the Gaza strip and controls all the borders there, Israel have been imposing a crippling economic embargo on the costal region for over five months, while the Israeli army continues to attack the Palestinian resistance groups that are based in Gaza in addition to civilians living there.

international | diplomacy | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org