Last update - 00:00 27/09/2006
Shin Bet chief accuses Egypt of allowing arms smuggling into Gaza Strip
By The Associated Press
The director of the Shin Bet domestic security service, Yuval Diskin, on Wednesday accused Egypt of allowing Palestinian militants to smuggle tons of weapons into the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew from the coastal area last year.
"The Egyptians know who the smugglers are and don't deal with them," Diskin told a Cabinet meeting, according to a participant in the meeting. "They received intelligence on this from us and didn't use it."
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza a year ago, militants have smuggled 19 tons of weapons and explosives into the strip from Egypt, Diskin said. Egypt and the Palestinians have controlled the border since Israel withdrew.
"We're talking about an escalation that is endangering us," Diskin told the ministers, according to the participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss security matters with the press.
But the representative to Egyptian parliament for Rafah, Fayez Abu Harb, took issue with the intelligence chief's comments, calling them "lies propagated by Shin Bet." "Egypt respects its commitments and international agreements with its neighbors, and protects its borders as a matter of national security," he said, mentioning that Egypt has discovered several tunnels and seized many caches of contraband from them in recent years.
Egypt destroys gun smuggling tunnel
Egyptian security forces later on Wednesday destroyed a tunnel used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, Egyptian police said.
Police discovered the tunnel Wednesday near Karm Salem, less than five kilometers from Rafah crossing point, Egyptian Captain Mohammed Amin said. No arrests were made in the operation and police later detonated explosives in the tunnel to block it up.