Monday, January 12, 2009

I just think someone needs to post why Egypt has decided to basically resist Hamas. One will notice that Egypt has their border closed to Gaza as well as Israel has it's border closed. Ever wonder why?

The following article is from Egypt. Notice the date being this past December 4th, just a couple of weeks before the Israeli current action.

What one discovers is that Hamas is a puppet of Iran...and Egypt wants noting to do with a power house Iran...esp. a nuclear Iran!


this from Egypt herself

TENSE EGYPT-Hamas relations take a turn for the worse

By Mona Salem
First Published: December 4, 2008

CAIRO: Already tense relations between Egypt and Hamas have soured after Cairo for the first time openly accused the group of torpedoing Palestinian reconciliation talks. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying on Thursday that months of Egyptian-mediated talks between rivals Hamas and Fatah failed in November because of "Hamas' lack of enthusiasm toward reconciliation."

As the only Arab nation bordering the Gaza Strip, Egypt has been trying to reach a detente between Fatah and Hamas and prevent their conflict, which saw Hamas violently eject Fatah from Gaza in June 2007, spilling into Egypt. Cairo is worried about a repetition of the chaotic scenes last January when hundreds of thousands of Gazans broke through the Rafah border crossing and the Israeli lockdown on the territory, to spend a few days shopping in Egypt.

Following the breach, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in August began hosting inter-Palestinian talks involving 13 factions, including Fatah and Hamas, in the hope of reaching a consensus on a unity government. A deal was almost reached that would have seen a technocrat government set up without Fatah or Hamas figures that would be acceptable to the international community, much of which boycotts Hamas.

Such an agreement could also have led to a reopening of the Rafah crossing in accordance with a 2005 deal between Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the European Union which requires PA forces to man the border. But Hamas pulled out of the talks at the last moment, saying Fatah was continuing to arrest its members in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah retains nominal political control.

Tensions between Egypt and Hamas are mirrored by a regional war of influence that has grown since Israel's failed war against Lebanon's Hezbollah in 2006. The two blocs are the so-called moderates of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan versus the "hardliners" of Iran and Syria, alongside Hamas and Hezbollah.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem last week told an Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo that Egypt was supporting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah at the expense of Hamas. "The (Egyptian) mediator should maintain an equal distance from all (Palestinian) factions," Muallem said. Cairo swiftly retorted that "it is Syria that should adopt an impartial position" and end its support for Hamas.

A cabinet statement on Wednesday denied Cairo favored either party in the talks and blamed the worsening situation of Palestinians in the impoverished coastal strip on their rivalry.

On Wednesday, Aboul Gheit took aim at Iran, saying for the first time that Egypt supports "international efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons."

Previously Egyptian officials have only said they preferred a diplomatic solution to the West's conflict with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, which Tehran insists is entirely peaceful.

"Hamas leaders have recognized openly that they are financed by a country in the region," Mustafa El-Fiqi, who heads the Egyptian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said in reference to Iran.

The closure of the border with Gaza also has repercussions on Egypt's domestic politics, where the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood, from which Hamas is descended, has been organizing protests against the siege of Gaza.

Dozens of Egyptian Islamists have been rounded up for organizing the demonstrations. Referring to the Gaza Strip, Fiki said that Egypt would not "tolerate an Islamic emirate on its eastern border."

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