[Jerusalem Post] Khaled Abu Toameh - Hamas is not opposed to joint Palestinian management of the Gaza crossings, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Thursday. After talks between Hamas leaders and Egyptian government officials in Cairo, Zahar told Al Jazeera that Hamas would not object to Mahmoud Abbas' Presidential Guard controlling the Rafah crossing on condition that Israel had no say over procedures there. Hamas leaders stressed during the talks in Cairo that they were strongly opposed to the return of PA security forces to the border crossing under the terms of a 2005 U.S.-brokered agreement. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told the Italian daily La Republica that Gaza would never be part of Egypt, and that Israel's dream of "throwing the Strip" at the Egyptians was "only a dream." Egyptian police have raided dozens of houses in Al-Arish and other towns in search of Palestinians planning to stay in Egypt. Egypt is reported to have deployed 25,000 policemen and soldiers in Sinai as part of a massive crackdown aimed at forcing all the Palestinians who entered Egypt to return to Gaza. While vehicles are prevented from crossing, pedestrians continued to pour across the border.
2008-02-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive