Egypt invites Fatah and Hamas for talks on border breach
Egypt holds talks with Fatah and Hamas factions over Rafah border breach
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Sunday, 27, Jan 2008 12:59
Egypt is today holding talks with rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas over its breached border with the Gaza Strip.
More than half of Gaza's 1.5 million residents are thought to have crossed into Egypt since the Rafah frontier fence was blown up by militants last week.
Gaza is in the grip of an Israeli blockade, which has seen fuel and food supplies dry up.
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak initially allowed Gazans to flood through Rafah – the territory's only border that bypasses Israel – to stock up on supplies.
Amid growing pressure from Israel and the US, Egyptian soldiers tried and failed to reseal the border yesterday.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction was ousted from Gaza last summer, is due to meet Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert later today, but has already suggested returning to a 2005 accord that would hand control of Rafah to his presidential guard.
Egypt has responded favourably to the proposal, with a senior diplomat saying: "We want to end this crisis through the takeover of control of the border crossing by the legitimate Palestinian Authority of president Mahmoud Abbas."
Cairo's foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit added: "There is an Egyptian desire to control the border and to control the flow of Palestinians in and out of the Gaza Strip."
But Hamas, which has been largely ignored by Egypt since violently assuming control of Gaza, has rejected the plans.
"We have our own vision of how the crossing will be run and we will present our vision to our Egyptian brothers," a spokesman told the Reuters news agency.