Egypt was aware of airstrikes in Sudan when it happened: FM
April 2, 2009 (CAIRO) – The airstrike launched inside Sudan earlier by suspected Israeli warplanes earlier this year was known to Egypt when it happened, its foreign minister said today.
“The foreign act against Sudan is denounced and our response to it must be strong” he was quoted as saying without giving any details.
An unknown number of airstrikes this year were launched in Eastern Sudan by what is widely believed to be Israeli fighters against suspected arm smugglers.
An Israeli source told the ‘TIME’ magazine last week its foreign intelligence agency (Mossad) found out that Iran was planning a major delivery of a substantial amount of arms and explosives to Hamas controlled Gaza including anti-tank rockets and Fajir rockets with a 25 mile range and a 45 kg warhead.
Based on the Intel, Israel decided to strike the convoy inside Sudan in an operation that involved drones, fighter bombers and naval vessels.
The Israeli sources said that several Iranians were killed in the raid, along with Sudanese smugglers and drivers.
Hamas denied that the convoy was Gaza headed or that they were expecting any weapons.
The Sudanese government reportedly suspected that the US carried out at the attack and some officials even inquired from Cairo whether they took part in it.
Khartoum said it withheld any disclosure of the bombing in Eastern Sudan pending its own investigations. No official statement was made on the subject.
Aboul-Gheit said that Egypt was informed that there were two separate strikes but acknowledged that his government was unaware of how Israel carried out them out.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak personally warned his Sudanese counterpart on the growing trend of arm smuggling from Sudan.
The WSJ said that Mubarak was also echoing US complaints on the same issue who sent a formal letter demanding Sudan’s government “cease smuggling arms into Egypt”.
The WSJ cited the official as saying that Washington and Cairo in the last few weeks raised with Sudan’s government their concerns that Sudan “has become a major facilitator for Gaza-bound weapons being smuggled into Egypt”.
The report said that Egyptians are particularly concerned that Sudan is becoming an arms partner of Iran and aiding Tehran in moving weapons to the militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip.
The US & Israel have blamed Cairo in the past for not doing enough to stop arms smuggling on its borders to Gaza.
However the Egyptian government dismissed the criticism saying that it has taken robust measures to close a network of smuggling tunnels, mostly used for food and fuel, linking it to Gaza.
(ST)