By DPA
Washington : The Egyptian government has not done enough to halt the flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip, and the lack of progress undermines efforts to support moderate Palestinian leaders, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
Rice said she delivered that message when she met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other officials during her trip to the country last week to get support for a Middle East conference later this year.
“I was very clear with the Egyptians that whatever the challenges and the difficulties of cutting off smuggling routes, they had to do more and they had to do more urgently,” Rice told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rice said the US will soon send a senior delegation to help the Egyptians to ensure Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is unable to access weapons smuggled through Egypt.
“There needs to be further efforts,” Rice said. “The situation is simply not acceptable, particularly in the context of trying to support moderate forces in the Middle East and moderate forces in the Palestinian territories.”