Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday denied reports in Egypt that its security forces had beefed up their presence on the border with the Gaza Strip. In a meeting of parliamentary members of the ruling National Democratic Party, Mubarak called the reports "totally baseless."

An Egyptian security source said yesterday that Cairo had lowered the security alert at its border with the Gaza Strip, two days after officials said the area along the Philadelphi Route had been fortified in case of a possible Israel Defense Forces operation against tunnels used for arms smuggling. "The number of officers has been reduced after the Israeli threat has lessened," a source in the Egyptian border police said. "The border area was calm and no abnormal movement has been seen."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz had also denied the reports on Sunday, saying Egypt would not deploy any more than the agreed upon addition of 750 troops at the Gaza border.

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Over the weekend, the official Middle East News Agency reported that 5,000 additional police were to deploy along the border in order to protect Egyptians living close to Gaza following newspaper reports that Israeli aircraft might bomb the border area in a bid to destroy tunnels used to smuggle weapons. Mubarak held the meeting with the lawmakers prior to his departure on a trip to Russia and China where he is to discuss Egypt's new nuclear energy project. A spokesman for the Egyptian president, Suleiman Awad, said Mubarak had told the lawmakers that Egypt did not need permission from any external body to resume its nuclear program. Awad said Egypt was a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and would continue to honor it.