Egypt recalls commerce delegation to Israel

Egypt suspended commercial cooperation talks with Israel on Thursday in what was thought to be protest over Israel's cabinet decision on Wednesday not to open its border crossings with the Gaza Strip until Hamas agrees to release abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

Egypt has been mediating efforts to strike a cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas since Israel's three week military offensive in the Gaza Strip ended on January 18.

Hamas, who have held Shalit since he was abducted by Gaza militants in 2006, said that by linking Shalit's release to a Gaza cease-fire agreement, Israel essentially stabbed Egypt in the back.

The Egyptian commerce delegation was called to return to Cairo urgently. Delegation members, Egyptian foreign ministry officials involved in cultivating commercial cooperation between Egypt and Israel, arrived in Jerusalem on Thursday for talks with Israel's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

However, Egypt's ambassador to Israel called the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem Thursday evening and said that the delegation suspended the talks due to technical reasons and was called back to Egypt for professional consultations. He stressed that the move was not politically motivated and that the delegation will return to Jerusalem to resume the talks as early as next week.

Shortly after the talks began on Thursday, the head of the Egyptian delegation received a phone call from the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv informing him of an order from Cairo to halt the talks and return to Egypt immediately.

The Egyptian diplomats apologized and explained "this is an order from up high, and we must abide."

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying "we regret the Egyptian decision to halt the quarterly talks held today at the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry in Jerusalem. This is an economic meet whose very existence represents Egyptian interests no less than Israeli ones. This decision sends a negative message to business people in Egypt, Israel and the U.S. who wish to promote commerce between the two nations. We hope the talks will resume soon."