Egypt withdraws diplomats

Gaza: Egypt, a key Middle East peace broker and patron of the Palestinians, has withdrawn its envoys from Gaza in protest at the Hamas movement's violent ousting of its secular Fatah rivals, officials said yesterday.

They said mission head Major-General Burhan Hammad left with his entire staff as Hamas declared it had seized control of Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah responded to the takeover by dissolving the Hamas-led coalition government.

Walkout

The Egyptian walkout is a blow to Hamas, which has long been welcomed in Cairo despite being shunned by Western powers. Egypt borders Gaza and Palestinians have long considered it a vital outlet from a territory otherwise penned in by Israel.

"Of course it was a protest measure," said one official in Gaza familiar with the decision. He declined to be identified.

The Egyptian state news agency Mena said that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman had summoned the delegation to Cairo for consultations on the situation on Gaza.

In a separate report, Mena quoted an Egyptian official source as saying: "Egypt will continue its endeavours and efforts to achieve stability in the Palestinian territories."

Ties between a Hamas-run Gaza and Egypt were now in doubt, an official said: "It will take some time to make decisions" on how relations would now be handled, the official said.

After its week-long assault on Fatah security compounds, Hamas forces are now present at the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border.