Egypt Securing Gaza Border: Mubarak

[tekisui]

Source: IC Publications

Egypt is securing its own border with the Gaza Strip and will never accept any foreign observers on its soil, President Hosni Mubarak said on Saturday.

"Egypt, in its efforts to stop the aggression, is working on securing its borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip and it will never accept the presence of foreign observers on its territory," Mubarak said in a television address.

"I say that is a red line we will not allow to be crossed," he added.

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=090117133454.wv2gfa3p.php

[Duckhunter935]

1. This is constructive

They should put observers on the Gaza side then to allow supplies other than weapons in and also have someone other than Israels word.

[ohio2007]

9. smuggling is big buisness on the border

in areas, troops are paid to look the other way. can't have eyes of observers looking around that could lead to the end of a lucrative black market buisness.

[bemildred]

2. Is this about saying a US military presence will not be allowed?

You know, the agreement Condi & Livni signed? Or if not, who would the "foreign observers" that he is talking about be? I guess some other states have volunteered too.

[azurnoir]

3. How could C&L sign an agreement

to put US troops in Egypt, seems a bit over reaching doesn't it?

[bemildred]

4. Hey, anybody can sign an agreement.

That part is easy as pie. And I don't really know that it was the Condi and Zippy agreement, or that alone, that prompted this statement. But he does seems a bit annoyed, I presume he didn't make such a statement out of a random desire to appear in public.

[azurnoir]

5. Perhaps he was feeling ignored

but really the specifics of the agreement have not been released. A fact which leaves several questions one of which, is why sign any international agreement that almost certainly involves American troops on some level in the last 96 hours of a Presidency?

[bemildred]

6. Chutzpah? Desperation?

:shrug:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. There is a world of difference between foreign observers and foreign assistance

[bemildred]

12. Yes. Which it is intended to be seems ambiguous. nt

[bemildred]

7. Germany, France, Britain offer to combat Gaza arms smuggling

BERLIN - Britain, France and Germany have offered to help prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip in a joint letter to the Israeli and Egyptian governments published in Berlin Saturday.

The three countries said according to the German version of the letter that they were ready to take a number of steps to "contribute to an end to the arms smuggling to Gaza".

They would also continue to work with the governments in Egypt and Israel "to implement these measures".

"Germany, France and the United Kingdom, along with other partners, support efforts by the Israeli and Egyptian governments to reach a lasting truce in Gaza," said Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in their letter to Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/403160/1/.html

[ohio2007]

8. Egypt will also accept that $330 million ground penetrating radar from the US

but will they put it to good use in known tunnel dig areas ?

[bemildred]

11. Egypt is pretty corrupt, I hear.

Have they agreed to accept the radar, or is that all "some people" talking? I haven't been following the "talks" much.

[bemildred]

13. Egyptian official dismisses anti-smuggling deal

CAIRO, Egypt - Egypt's foreign minister on Saturday dismissed a U.S.-Israeli agreement aimed at cutting off weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip, raising questions about how effective it would be in preventing arms from reaching the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

The deal signed in Washington on Friday helped pave the way for Israeli leaders to approve an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire Saturday, since an effective system to end arms smuggling in Gaza was a key goal of the three-week-old Israeli offensive in the territory.

But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday that his country would not be bound by the agreement. Egypt's cooperation will be critical to prevent arms getting into Gaza since most of the smuggling is believed to occur through tunnels underneath the Egyptian border.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28709011/

[azurnoir]

15. Perhaps next time someone should invite Hosni to the party too

especially when it involves his country. Logistical help we'll see should be interesting.

[bemildred]

16. We’re not bound by Gaza smuggling deal: Egypt

CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said yesterday that Cairo is “not bound” by a US-Israeli agreement to stop arms smuggling to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Egypt “is absolutely not bound by this agreement,” on halting arms smuggling through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, Abul Gheit told reporters.

The deal was signed on Friday in Washington by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni but details of the accord were not disclosed by Washington. Israeli newspaper Haaretz published on Friday what it said was a copy of the agreement. It said that Israel and the US would “work cooperatively with neighbours and with others in the international community to prevent the supplies of arms to terrorist organisations.”

According to Haaretz, the agreement also promised “enhanced US security and intelligence cooperation with regional governments on actions to prevent weapons and explosive flows to Gaza.” The US will also provide “logistical and technical assistance and train and equip regional security forces in counter-smuggling tactics,” Haaretz reported. Egypt has repeatedly denied that arms have been smuggled into Gaza through a network of tunnels.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=January2009&file=World_News2009011815830.xml

[IndianaGreen]

14. Let me know when the dogs lick Mubarak's rotting corpse

He is a tyrant that deserves the same fate as Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu.