Nearby Egyptian- Israeli agreement over Gaza border security

Egypt has demanded Israel to connect its plan to withdraw from Gaza to the Roadmap peace plan and to facilitate measures for the Palestinian elections, while Tel Aviv announced that a nearby agreement is approached on enhancing the Egyptian security arrangements on the border.

This came in conclusion of the talks held by the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghiet and the director of the intelligence Omar Suleiman with the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and the foreign minister Silvan Shalom and the Israeli defense minister Shaoul Mofaz.

In a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Abu al-Gheit, Shalom stressed that an agreement will be finalized shortly on the deployment of more Egyptian forces on the border and the nature of armament of these forces. Israeli officials, however, had indicated in October Israel's readiness to accept an increased Egyptian military deployment along the border with Gaza without making any change to the Camp David agreement.

An Egyptian proposal states to permit 750 soldiers from the Egyptian border guards to be deployed on the Egyptian side of the border having with them light weapons. Israel suggests that the situation is to be settled via correspondents between Sharon and the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abu al-Gheit reiterated his country's position to calling to Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza which means the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the border area in Rafah and linking such a withdrawal to the roadmap.

Sharon, once again, availed himself of the occasion to express his regret over the killing of three Egyptian policemen in November in Rafah in the Egyptian side by one Israeli shelling. He promised to notify the Egyptian authorities of the results of the investigations which are carried out by the Israeli army, while the Egyptian foreign minister demanded Israel to also give commitment not to repeat such an incident.