Egypt turns back 3,000 Palestinians
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
EGYPTIAN authorities have turned back around 3,000 Palestinians trying to reach Cairo and other cities after crossing into Sinai from Gaza following a border breach, a security source said yesterday.
"The Palestinians were stopped and asked to turn back after travelling past El-Arish," 35 kilometres from the border town of Rafah, the furthest point they were allowed to reach to stock up on goods, the source told AFP.
Road blocks have been set up across Sinai, particularly on the roads leading out of the peninsula and on to mainland Egypt, according to AFP correspondents.
Egyptian media reported yesterday that authorities had raided hotels and rented apartments in Cairo and other large cities in search of Palestinians who may have slipped past security.
One security source said a number of Palestinians had been arrested in Taba on the Israeli border and in southern Egypt.
Security forces have been given strict orders to prevent any Palestinians without passports or entry visas from staying in Sinai, the source said.
Several hundred thousand Palestinians have swarmed into Egypt since militants blew up the Rafah barricades on Tuesday night after a punishing Israeli-lockdown of the territory.Egypt also said yesterday that it wanted the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas to control the border crossing with the Gaza Strip, thus excluding Hamas Islamists who have run the territory since June.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the EU and the US it was important that Israel cooperate with the efforts to control the border crossings "through the deployment of the Palestinian Authority (forces) and ... European Union monitors," a foreign ministry statement said. AFP
"The Palestinians were stopped and asked to turn back after travelling past El-Arish," 35 kilometres from the border town of Rafah, the furthest point they were allowed to reach to stock up on goods, the source told AFP.
Road blocks have been set up across Sinai, particularly on the roads leading out of the peninsula and on to mainland Egypt, according to AFP correspondents.
Egyptian media reported yesterday that authorities had raided hotels and rented apartments in Cairo and other large cities in search of Palestinians who may have slipped past security.
One security source said a number of Palestinians had been arrested in Taba on the Israeli border and in southern Egypt.
Security forces have been given strict orders to prevent any Palestinians without passports or entry visas from staying in Sinai, the source said.
Several hundred thousand Palestinians have swarmed into Egypt since militants blew up the Rafah barricades on Tuesday night after a punishing Israeli-lockdown of the territory.Egypt also said yesterday that it wanted the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas to control the border crossing with the Gaza Strip, thus excluding Hamas Islamists who have run the territory since June.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the EU and the US it was important that Israel cooperate with the efforts to control the border crossings "through the deployment of the Palestinian Authority (forces) and ... European Union monitors," a foreign ministry statement said. AFP
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