Egypt detains 15 over rockets bound for Gaza

Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:33am EDT

RAFAH, Egypt, April 10 (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces detained 15 people on Friday over accusations they helped make rockets destined to be smuggled into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip via border tunnels, security sources said.

The sources said authorities had confiscated the outer shells of 60 rockets from a metal workshop in the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuwayed, near the closed Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

Those held include the owner of the workshop and other workers and drivers who are accused of taking part in a scheme to manufacture rocket parts and send them to the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The sources did not specify whom the rocket parts were intended for in Gaza.

Israel's military fears Hamas Islamists could use tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border to re-arm following a military offensive on Gaza earlier this year that Israel says was aimed at halting Hamas rocket attacks on its southern towns.

For the 1.5 million people in Gaza, the tunnels have also become a main source of goods, including fuel, since Israel tightened its embargo after Hamas took control of the strip from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

Egypt also limits movement through its border crossing with the territory. (Reporting by Mohamed Yusuf; Writing by Cynthia Johnston)



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