Egypt Warns Of Diplomatic "Retaliation" Against Israel For Hurting US-Egyptian Ties

[Purveyor]

CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt's foreign minister warned that his country would "retaliate" diplomatically against Israel if it hurts U.S.-Egyptian ties with its complaints over smuggling into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

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Asked on a state-tv program about the impact of Livni's comments on Egypt-Israeli relations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, "If they (Israelis) continue to push and affect U.S.-Egyptian relations and harm Egyptian interests, for sure Egypt will retaliate and will harm their interests."

"We have claws capable of retaliating in all directions and through diplomacy," he said on the Al-Beit Beitak program late Monday. He did not elaborate.

Israel says that Hamas is using tunnels from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to smuggle weapons and money into the Gaza Strip, where the militant Palestinian group took control in June. Livni said Egypt was doing a "terrible" job of stopping the flow, which she said was strengthening Palestinian militants.

Aboul Gheit said it was difficult to find the tunnels without an increase of Egyptian troops on the border and the provision of better equipment. Israel has rejected an increase in troops, which is regulated under the countries' 1979 peace accord.


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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/01/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-US-Israel.php

[UndertheOcean]

1. That seems like a reasonable request:

"Aboul Gheit said it was difficult to find the tunnels without an increase of Egyptian troops on the border and the provision of better equipment. Israel has rejected an increase in troops, which is regulated under the countries' 1979 peace accord."

I mean , How can Egypt do more if their hands are tied like that ?