(AP/Washington Post) Salah Nasrawi - Two weeks after Israel ended its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip, Egyptian troops have yet to take up fully their responsibility for policing the 7-mile border, allowing many Egyptians and Palestinians to venture through gaps in the fence. Egypt fears that extremists from Gaza will spill over into its territory, worsening its own extremist problem in the Sinai desert. Yet it fears a domestic political backlash if it cracks down too hard on Palestinians from Gaza. Egypt, which has suffered major strikes on its tourist resorts in Sinai, has a large stake in keeping the radical Islamic groups in Gaza under control and off its side of the border. Yet Egypt also is leery of being seen as Gaza's jailer.
2005-09-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive