Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Tuesday rejected allegations that a great deal of weapons were smuggled from Egypt into Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip through border tunnels.
Replying to questions at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abul Gheit noted that the Egyptian government was exerting utmost efforts to control the border area despite that insufficient number of Egyptian forces in this area hinder such efforts.
Abul Gheit said that discussions are underway with the Israeli side to reach an agreement on the increase of Egyptian forces on borders with Gaza, voicing hope that Egyptian forces could be expanded.
The foreign minister also noted that the smuggling tunnels have been there over the last 40 years, which were used not only for arms smuggling, but also contrabands.
For her part, Rice expressed concern about media reports of weapons smuggling into Gaza, saying that there are continuing discussions about this issue in order to make more efforts in this regard.
She added that Egypt wants to make sure no smuggling operations are carried through tunnels and efforts should be exerted to enhance the Egyptian ability to deal with the issue.
According to a Friday report of the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on its website, Israel's Public Security Minister Avi Dichter complained that Egypt is not doing enough to prevent weapon smuggling into the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Egypt condemned the remarks, rejecting accusation that it is blocking efforts to revive the stalled Mideast peace process by condoning weapons smuggling operations.
Replying to questions at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abul Gheit noted that the Egyptian government was exerting utmost efforts to control the border area despite that insufficient number of Egyptian forces in this area hinder such efforts.
Abul Gheit said that discussions are underway with the Israeli side to reach an agreement on the increase of Egyptian forces on borders with Gaza, voicing hope that Egyptian forces could be expanded.
The foreign minister also noted that the smuggling tunnels have been there over the last 40 years, which were used not only for arms smuggling, but also contrabands.
For her part, Rice expressed concern about media reports of weapons smuggling into Gaza, saying that there are continuing discussions about this issue in order to make more efforts in this regard.
She added that Egypt wants to make sure no smuggling operations are carried through tunnels and efforts should be exerted to enhance the Egyptian ability to deal with the issue.
According to a Friday report of the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on its website, Israel's Public Security Minister Avi Dichter complained that Egypt is not doing enough to prevent weapon smuggling into the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Egypt condemned the remarks, rejecting accusation that it is blocking efforts to revive the stalled Mideast peace process by condoning weapons smuggling operations.
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