CAIRO: American officials are due to visit both sides of the Egyptian-Israeli border next week to inspect the situation on the ground concerning continued smuggling through tunnels beneath the border. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that senior officials would be sent to the area to assess the situation and hold talks with both Egyptian and Israeli officials, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Thursday. Towards this end, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Robert Danin will pay a visit to the border area next week. There he will meet the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) Southern Command before crossing the border to meet Egyptian officers, the newspaper stated. Danin's visit might then be followed by other US officials, including army officers who will assess the border scenario from a military perspective. Israel has long accused Egypt of turning a blind eye to the extent of the smuggling, especially into the Gaza strip where Hamas reigns. However, this has constantly been refuted by Egypt. "Egypt's stance is against the tunnels and when they find any they close them because it is harmful to Egypt before it is harmful to Israel, Hassan Abu Taleb, an analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies previously told Daily News Egypt. Last week, an Egyptian delegation to the US Congress alleged that the smuggling of arms along the border was facilitated by soldiers in the IDF. The smuggling was also discussed during Rice s last visit to Cairo in mid-October when she met top Egyptian officials including President Hosni Mubarak and Chief of Intelligence Omar Suleiman. In a press conference held with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Rice said, "Of course we are concerned about the smuggling on what is a long and difficult route. No one, especially Egypt because of security concerns, wants to see smuggling. Aboul Gheit himself said, "The Egyptian government is doing its best to close the tunnels, [however] the limitation of forces in this area is a stumbling block, referring to the demilitarization of the border after the 1973 war. Due to the terms of an armistice agreement between Egypt and Israel, only 750 Egyptian troops are allowed to man the border with Israel, a number Aboul Gheit believed was well below what is needed to effectively safeguard the borders. Aboul Gheit stated that Egypt would be looking to discuss with Israel the possibility of increasing troops to counter the smuggling more effectively. Shani Cooper-Zubida, the spokesperson for the Israeli embassy, previously told Daily News Egypt that there were concerns about the weapons being smuggled into Gaza. "We are very concerned with the smuggling, the infiltration. We think the three sides [Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority] should prevent this from happening, she said.
