http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=268943&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
Latest Update: Monday26/1/2009January, 2009, 01:56 AM Doha Time Push for 'lasting' truce in Gaza CAIRO: A Hamas team met Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman yesterday in a bid to clinch a lasting truce in the war-battered Gaza Strip, days after an Israeli negotiator held similar talks in Cairo. But even as Egypt pushed on with its diplomatic drive, Hamas vowed to keep arming Gaza militants and an Israeli official warned that a Hamas leader will be unable to move freely if an Israeli soldier is not freed. Egypt closed its Rafah crossing point with Gaza for fear that Israel might renew its attacks on the smuggling tunnels that criss-cross the border, security officials said. Egypt's state Mena news agency said Suleiman and the Hamas officials discussed "Egyptian efforts to consolidate the ceasefire, reach a (permanent) truce, reopen Gaza crossings and resume Palestinian national dialogue". Hamas and Egyptian officials were tight-lipped about the talks, held behind closed doors and attended by members of the group's powerful Syria-based politburo and a delegation from Gaza. A Hamas spokesman in Damascus however reiterated that the Islamist group was willing to observe a "one-year truce" with Israel "on condition" that the Gaza blockade is lifted. Suleiman, Egypt's pointman for Palestinian-Israeli affairs, met separately with Hamas and Israeli officials during the 22-day assault to push for acceptance of an Egyptian plan to end the onslaught. On Thursday, he met Amos Gilad, who last year was Israel's negotiator in talks that led to a six-month Egyptian-brokered truce with Hamas that expired on December 19. As the Cairo talks began, Hamas's Lebanon representative Ossama Hamdan vowed the group would continue to arm. "Warplanes, aircraft carriers and satellite technology will not be able to monitor the entry of weapons through Gaza's tunnels," he told a Beirut rally. "Things might get difficult, but we will do whatever it takes to continue our resistance against Israel." Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27 to halt rocket attacks from Gaza and stop arms trafficking from Egypt, and has warned it will strike again if Hamas is allowed to rearm. Hamas has also threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not reopen the crossings into Gaza, where 1,330 Palestinians were killed during the onslaught, almost a third of them children. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proposed on January 6 a three-point ceasefire plan, including terms to end smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border. - AFP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
