Officials said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has received a letter from the
Egyptian leadership that vowed to continue close relations between Cairo and
Ramallah. They said the letter was signed by Egyptian Higher Military
Council chairman Hussein Tantawi.
"Tantawi stressed in the letter the deep ties and relations on all
levels between Palestine and Egypt and the need to keep and preserve these
ties," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
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The letter, received by Abbas on March 1, was believed to be the first
formal communication by the new military-led regime in Egypt since the
overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11. The civilian government has
been nominally led by Vice President Omar Suleiman, the former intelligence
chief who maintained nearly daily contact with Abbas as well as the Hamas
regime in the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Egypt will continue to actively work on all fronts of its interest and
foreign policy priorities," the Tantawi letter was quoted as saying.
Mubarak was said to have been the closest ally of Abbas. Under Mubarak,
Egypt coordinated all PA positions
regarding Israel and the United States as well as helped equip and train
Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.
The Tantawi letter said the new regime intends to continue consultation
and coordination with the PA. No further details were given.