Egypt To Catch Gaza Smugglers With U.S. Funds
By The Washington Post | January 7, 2008
CAIRO — Egypt has agreed to spend $23 million in American military aid on robots and other advanced technology to detect smuggling tunnels along its border with the Gaza Strip, a congressman said yesterday.
Egypt also has accepted an American offer to send experts from the Army Corps of Engineers to train Egyptian border guards in the technology, Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat of New York, said.
America offered the technology and training in an effort to defuse tensions between Egypt and Israel over Egypt's control of its Sinai border with Gaza. Congress voted last month to withhold $100 million in American military aid to Egypt until the country intensifies policing of the border.
Israeli officials accuse Egypt of allowing smugglers to ferry arms and other goods to the Palestinian movement Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since June.
