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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090327.ISRAEL27/TPStory/International
Israel, U.S. Agreed to Address Arms Shipments in East Africa
[Globe and Mail-Canada] Patrick Martin - A senior Israeli official said Tuesday, "what we learned from Lebanon and from Gaza is that there is a need to prevent forces such as Hamas or Hizbullah from rearming....Is it possible to be more pro-active in intercepting weapons before they arrive at the frontier? That's why we signed an MOU with Secretary of State Rice to intercept weapons shipments." The memorandum of understanding, signed Jan. 16 in Washington, calls for the U.S. and its partners to work together to address the problem of the supply of arms to Hamas and other militant forces in Gaza. It lists the areas where such arms shipments may occur as "the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Eastern Africa." Sudan is an Eastern African country. Former Israeli Air Force commander Avihu Bin Nun described to Israel's Army Radio the enormous difficulty in carrying out such an operation: "The planes had to pass over areas that have defenses against missiles and against other air forces; this had to be done at night, the target had to be hit precisely and not something else. This is quite an operation. And you also don't have years to prepare for this kind of operation."