Last update - 00:00 10/02/2008
Palestinian group calls on Egypt FM to apologize to Gazans
By The Associated Press
A radical Palestinian faction on Sunday denounced a recent statement by Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in which he warned Gazans they would have their legs broken if they attempted to cross the border into Egypt.
Anwar Raja, a member of the political bureau of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General-Command, called on Aboul Gheit to retract his comments, made last week.
"The diplomatic courtesy and the brotherly (Egyptian-Palestinian) relations requires that Mr. Aboul Gheit be more responsible in his statements," Raja said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip
beginning late last month during a 12-day breach of the border. The border has since been resealed, and Aboul Gheit warned last week that anyone trying to cross illegally would get his legs broken.
It was unclear how literally Aboul Gheit intended his statement to be, but it illustrated the tensions that have flared between the militant Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Egypt.
Raja stressed that Aboul Gheit's statement does not reflect the opinion of the Egyptian people and requested that he apologize to the Palestinians for the moral and psychological harm he has done.
There was no immediate comment from Aboul Gheit or the Egyptian government.
Raja said the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza should be reopened
according to a new mechanism that ensures the freedom of passage for people and goods from and to the Gaza Strip. He did not elaborate.
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