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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Egypt warns Israel not to take peace treaty for granted |
| 2006-06-30 |
| An Israeli "war on all fronts" drew a rare warning from Egypt on Thursday that the military escalation jeopardizes a peace treaty with Israel as the Arab League held an emergency session to discuss the crisis. The threat of a regional conflagration rose Wednesday after Israeli warplanes overflew a palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose country is host to several Palestinian militant groups. A defiant Syria on Thursday vowed to defend itself against Israeli attacks. While Cairo has remained mum since the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in Gaza, the head of the Egyptian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said Israel should not think the "peace reached with an Arab country can be guaranteed while it continues to perpetrate its crimes and aggressions." Mustafa al-Fekki, a senior member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, was referring to the peace treaty Egypt signed with Israel in 1979. Fekki also voiced fears the flare-up could spill over into Egypt and threaten the country's security. "The Egyptian Parliament has expressed its concern for Egypt's borders and its peace deal. We respect it but the threats are coming from Israel," said Fekki. Mufid Shehab, secretary of state for parliamentary affairs, openly accused Israel on Wednesday of having threatened Egypt's stability. Following an emergency meeting, Arab League ambassadors roundly condemned the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip as "state terrorism," but failed to come up with an immediate diplomatic solution for the conflict. Hoping to prevent the crisis from spinning out of control, Egyptian officials have been talking directly with Hamas' political leader, Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Damascus, to push him to facilitate the soldier's release. An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said both Abbas and Egyptian officials called Assad to ask him to persuade Meshaal to release the soldier, with no results so far. Mubarak also spoke with Abbas and Assad on Thursday, the Egyptian state news agency said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 All the way to Cairo next time, Hosni... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-06-30 22:26 |
| #16 Well, why did not the Mullahs in Iran offer them "Settlement"? It is more than obvious that this is not working. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-06-30 21:11 |
| #15 "The Egyptian Parliament has expressed its concern for Egypt's borders" i.e., they don't want a flood of Palestinians over their border. I can sympathize. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-06-30 10:49 |
| #14 A word of caution to Mustafa al-Fekki. Remember what happens when a slow neutron hits a Uranium atom ? Good, Eh, I new you did pay attention in Physics class.... |
| Posted by: Elder of Zion 2006-06-30 10:36 |
| #13 "The Egyptian Parliament has expressed its concern for Egypt's borders and its peace deal. We respect it but the threats are coming from Israel," said Fekki. In other words, "Quit sending those pesky Paleos our way. I mean, we don't even want them in the Sinai peninsula, much less Egypt proper. And, oh yeah, it's the Joooooooos fault." |
| Posted by: BA 2006-06-30 10:07 |
| #12 IOW Watch the hands, not the mouth |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-06-30 09:40 |
| #11 Seems to me Egypt has been pretty anti-Hamas in word and deed. A little anti-Israel bloviating for domestic consumption is not to be denied them if it keeps things cooler internally. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-30 09:01 |
| #10 Cut off American tourist $ in the event of a war and see how well Egypt's economy does. Euros won't be going there either if there's hostilities. Mubarak's blowing smoke for domestic consumption. Far be it from telling his Islamist population the truth: "we'd get our asses handed to us" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-30 08:46 |
| #9 Cut their 2 billion dollars in aid off from the US per year and stop giving them parts for their M1s and Apachies and see how for granted they take the peace treaty. Ass hats. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-06-30 08:01 |
| #8 Heh, peace. You keep using that word. I don' think it means what you think it means. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-06-30 03:01 |
| #7 Egypt warns Israel not to take peace treaty for granted And neither should Egypt. Remember, there is a reason Egypt signed that treaty in the first place. |
| Posted by: grb 2006-06-30 01:34 |
| #6 As far as Radical Iran is concerned, EGYPT is just another future Iranian-Shia controlled province of the future revived Persian, etc Muslim empires. Wid Iran now publicly admitting to supporting anti-Israeli, anti-democracy regional terror groups, including but not limited to HAMAS, to support HAMAS, etc Egypt is helping its own destroyer. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-30 01:29 |
| #5 IMO, most of Israel's trouble started with that peace treaty. Also, I'd like Sinai back. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-06-30 01:10 |
| #4 Considering the country with the largest share of foreign fighters (read: terrorists) in Iraq is from Egypt, the mind boggles. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 00:58 |
| #3 The USSR no longer exists to save their asses. What are they smoking? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-06-30 00:40 |
| #2 If Egypt wants some of what the Paleos are receiving, I'm sure Israel can oblige.... |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-06-30 00:34 |
| #1 The damn Egyptians should remember that military sales, training, equiping, and 2.5 billion dollars a year in aid is absolutely dependent on them maintaining their peace treaty with Israel. If they wish to lose all of that, break the peace. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-06-30 00:30 |