Egypt's Mubarak meets US Congressman amid aid tension
CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday met US Congressman Steve Israel, the official MENA news agency reported, amid furore in Cairo over Congress's decision to freeze millions of dollars of its aid.
Israel, who serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, also met Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.
The US Congress last month froze 100 million dollars in aid until US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could certify that Egypt was doing enough to stem the flow of arms into the Gaza Strip.
After meeting Israel on Saturday, Abul Gheit reiterated his country's position rejecting preconditioned US economic aid.
On Saturday, Egyptian authorities also discovered five underground tunnels used to smuggle arms and contraband into Gaza, an Egyptian security source said.
The hidden tunnels, located close to the Rafah crossing, were exposed after heavy rain caused the ground to subside.
Egypt frequently announces the discovery of arms caches in the Sinai peninsula as well as tunnels used by the militants.
However, the Israelis have frequently complained that Egypt is failing to do enough to stem the flow of arms into the impoverished coastal strip which has been controlled by Islamist group Hamas since June 2007.
Cairo says monitoring the porous border with Gaza is made difficult by the peace treaty it signed with Israel in 1979 which bars it from deploying more troops to the area. It has asked that the treaty be renegotiated.
