CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday strongly rejected criticism by Israel’s top diplomat that Cairo is doing a “terrible job of securing its border with the Gaza Strip against smugglers, saying Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did not understand the issues and should have remained silent.
”It is better for the Israeli minister to concentrate on negotiation efforts with the Palestinians, instead of speaking randomly about issues she should not be dealing with,” a statement from the ministry here said.
Livni’s remarks are ”not far from” the US Congress proposal to link the aid with Egypt’s alleged lack of action ”toward the tunnels issue,” the statement said.
Israel has delivered to US officials a video tape that shows Egyptian police officers helping weapons smugglers cross the border into the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Monday.
Senior Israeli defense officials said they have long believed that Egyptian forces are involved in smuggling arms into Gaza. But they didn’t know about the tape. An Egyptian security official in the border town of Rafah questioned the authenticity of the tape and insisted that Egypt does all it can to secure the border.
”It is impossible to film any video of any activity on the borders, because there are about 750 border guards,” he said. ”If there was suspicious action, other guards would inform their superiors, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israel’s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, on Monday accused Egypt of doing a ”terrible” job in securing the borders.
”Egypt’s actions are problematic because it strengthens the extremists in Gaza,” Livni told the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in a closed meeting.
Livni’s remarks came days before Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to meet with President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. – AP
