Cairo, Mar 17: A senior Egyptian official said on Tuesday Egypt did not need to adjust its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which has suggested it could be changed to help Egypt secure the border after any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Eli Shaked said on Sunday Israel was willing to amend the treaty because Egypt would need more forces on the border if Israel were to withdraw from Gaza as proposed in outline by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. But Egyptian presidential adviser Osama el-Baz said, ''we are not looking to the adjustment of the agreements. There is nothing that calls for an adjustment of them". Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif was quoted on Friday as saying Egypt and Israel had discussed amending the Camp David peace treaty so Egypt could secure the border if the Jewish state were to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli withdrawal from Gaza could dramatically change the status of the territory because for the first time since 1967 Palestinians would have direct access to a neighbouring Arab state without having to pass through Israeli controls.
But Egypt is worried it could be dragged into any subsequent conflict between Israel and the Gaza Palestinians and that Israel would hold it responsible for any new weaponry which reached the Palestinians through Sinai. The Camp David accords, negotiated in 1978 and which led to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, only allow Egypt to deploy civilian police armed with light weapons near the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Shaked said Egypt would have to boost its security presence along the border to stop Palestinian militants from smuggling weapons through tunnels from Egypt to Gaza.
Bureau Report