Egypt begins deploying forces on border with Gaza

Egypt on Saturday began deploying the first batch of 750 troops on the border with Gaza under an agreement with Israel to control the area after the latter's withdrawal, an Egyptian security source said.

About 200 soldiers were deployed on Saturday and the remainder would take their places during next several days, said the source who declined to be named.

Egyptian and Israeli generals on Sept. 1 signed the agreement on deploying 750 lightly armed Egyptian troops along the Egyptian-Gaza border to enable Israeli troops to pull out from the Gaza Strip.

After the completion of evacuation of Jewish settlements in Gaza in late August, Israel said it could withdraw military installations in the area in late September.

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has assured Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that no weapons were smuggled from Egypt into Gaza after Israeli army quit the occupied territory.

But he rejected an Israeli proposal to relocate the border crossing from the Rafah area farther southeast to a point where the Egyptian-Gaza-Israeli borders meet to allow Israel to inspect movements into Gaza.

Source: Xinhua