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Cairo denies assisting arms shipments to Gaza

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Monday, May 14, 2001

GAZA — Israel has resumed helicopter attacks against Palestinian Authority targets while in Washington administration officials consulted Egypt about arms shipments from the Sinai into Gaza.

"I'm aware of some reports of weapons entering the southern end of the Gaza Strip and I have raised it with my Egyptian colleagues," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "They suggest they will do nothing to support such things, will act against it and it enjoys no support from Egypt."

PLO Executive Committee chairman Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet Powell in Washington by Tuesday. PA officials said Abbas will press Powell for a U.S. invitation to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to meet President George Bush.

Two Palestinians were killed in the latest helicopter strike on Saturday in the West Bank city of Jenin. Four attack helicopters fired rockets and killed two PA intelligence officers. Another 17 Palestinians were injured.

Israeli sources said the casualties were Palestinian security officers who had been preparing to launch mortar attacks against nearby Jewish settlements. In an unusual move, a Fatah communique confirmed this.

In Gaza, Palestinian gunners fired mortars toward the Gaza Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim. Palestinian forces also fired rocket-propelled grenades in the area.

The PA is believed by Israeli military sources to have deployed mortars in the West Bank. They said the mortars — of 82 mm and 60 mm — are both produced by secret Palestinian factories as well as smuggled into the area.

In Washington, the Bush administration discussed with Cairo Israeli allegations that Egypt has allowed the smuggling of weapons from the Sinai into Gaza. Officials said Egypt has denied the allegations.

Monday, May 14, 2001


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