December 4, 2012
U.S. senators urge Morsi to halt Gaza arms smuggling
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Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Ismailia on Oct. 10. Photo by Egyptian Presidency/Reuters
A bipartisan slate of U.S. senators urged Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to crack down on arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip.
"In order for the cease-fire to hold, it is imperative that your government bolster its efforts to halt all weapons smuggling taking place via both overland and underground routes," said the letter, which was initiated by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), and signed by another 16 senators.
In the letter, sent Tuesday, the senators said they were "encouraged" by the "constructive role" Morsi played in brokering a cease-fire to the most recent Hamas-Israel conflict in the Gaza Strip.
"This is all the more important in light of the potential easing of restrictions on the movement of people and goods through Gaza border crossings as a condition of the cease-fire you helped to broker," they said. "Preventing Hamas from re-arming is just one step in helping to prevent violence from erupting again."
