Report: Egypt Threatens Abbas

2006-01-10

JPost.com Staff, The Jerusalem Post

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Egypt threatened to withdraw its support for the Palestinian Authority if the PA did not act to control the rampant anarchy in the Gaza Strip, according to a report in the London Arab newspaper Al Quds.

The report claimed that following the incident at the Rafah border crossing in which two Egyptian soldiers were killed, Egyptian authorities delivered the threat to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as part of a specially delivered message.

Egypt also threatened to withdraw its support for the peace process if the PA did not take the proper steps to restore order to Gaza. Israel Radio reported that there were no other confirmations of the account.

In the incident at the border crossing last Wednesday, two Egyptian border guards were killed and at least 30 were wounded when scores of Fatah gunmen opened fire at Egyptian army posts. They first demolished parts of the concrete slabs along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, enabling many Palestinians to cross into Egypt.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen used a bulldozer and explosives to create a hole in the wall. Egyptian border guards and Palestinian Authority policemen fired into the air in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Palestinians from infiltrating into Egypt, they added.

The gunmen were protesting the arrest of one of their colleagues by the PA security forces on charges of kidnapping three British nationals.

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis