Israel approves more Egyptian troops in Sinai
Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:22am GMT

* Peace treaty restricts nature, size of forces

* Israel says Egyptian troop deployment is temporary

By Dan Williams
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE71F0H620110216?sp=true

JERUSALEM, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Israel has agreed to a second limited
deployment of Egyptian troops to secure the demilitarised north Sinai, where
suspected sabotage has disrupted gas supply from Egypt, an official said on
Wednesday.

The movement of Egyptian soldiers into the zone, a step Israel has described
as temporary, has fuelled debate among Israelis over whether the fall of
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak would affect a peace treaty signed in 1979.

Under that pact, only a limited number of Egyptian police are permitted to
patrol the border area. It also restricts the nature and size of Israeli
forces on the other side of the frontier.

An Israeli official said Egyptian reinforcements "in the hundreds" had been
brought in to help secure the zone, which saw rioting against the now-ousted
Mubarak government as well as a suspicious fire at a gas pipeline facility
on Feb. 5.

Egyptian gas supplies to East Mediterranean Gas Co (EMG) and its Israeli
clients were expected to resume later this month, Ampal-American Israel Corp
Wednesday.

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that 700 Egyptian soldiers had
been deployed in the demilitarised zone in recent days, beefing up some 800
troops there since Jan. 30.

After the initial deployment, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said their
movement into the area with Israel's blessing represented "a temporary
situation, until the situation in Egypt has been stabilised".

The Israeli official who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday said the remarks by
Barak, who has been in contact with the head of Egypt's Higher Military
Council, reflected government policy toward the second Egyptian deployment
as well. (Editing by Angus MacSwan)