Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip is not a threat to Egypt’s security, prime minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday.

Haniyeh made the comments while meeting with a security delegation in the coastal enclave, a statement said.

The Gaza premier applauded Egypt’s treatment of the Palestinian people and Gazans in particular, adding that Gaza can be a source of security and cooperation for Egypt.

Relations between Egypt’s new government led by President Muhammad Mursi and Hamas had deteriorated since an attack in which gunmen killed 16 Egyptian soldiers on the Israeli border in early August.

Egypt closed the Rafah crossing and moved to seal myriad smuggling tunnels with Gaza on suspicion they might have been used by militants who shot dead the soldiers.

(www.maannews.net / 01.09.2012)