Arresting Debabesh meant to pressure Hamas to sign reconciliation document-Hamas demands his release

Arresting Debabesh meant to pressure Hamas to sign reconciliation document

Egyptian writer:

[ 21/09/2010 - 03:20 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- An Egyptian writer has opined that the Egyptian authorities' detention of Hamas leader Mohammed Debabesh on his way back home from performing Umra was meant as a pressure card on Hamas to sign the Egyptian document for Palestinian reconciliation as is.

Salim Azuz said in a press statement on Tuesday that arresting Debabesh was part of a campaign to force Hamas to sign the document and to prove that Cairo was still a main player in the region.

He noted that the arrest campaign against Hamas cadres was taking place at a time Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was secretly meeting with Hamas supreme leader Khaled Mishaal.

The writer said that Cairo was playing all its pressure cards against Hamas, noting that a big number of Hamas supporters were held in Egyptian prisons for the same purpose.

Hamas demands Egypt to release Dababesh, denies Cairo claims about him

[ 21/09/2010 - 03:13 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement called on the Egyptian government to immediately release one of its senior officials Mohamed Dababesh who was kidnapped on his way back to the Gaza Strip coming from Saudi Arabia, categorically denying claims that a large amount of money and communication equipment were in his possession.

In a news conference held Tuesday in Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stated that Dababesh is being interrogated by the Egyptian security apparatuses and there are media fabrications about his threat to the national security of Egypt in order to justify his arrest.

Spokesman Barhoum affirmed that Dababesh was hosted many times before as a dignitary and a member of the reconciliation committee that attended Cairo talks between Hamas and Fatah.

The spokesman added that Dababesh received the consent of the Egyptian authority before he went on pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia, but he was kidnapped by the Egyptian security immediately upon his arrival in Cairo airport.

"Soon after we learnt about his arrest, intensive contacts on a daily basis with the Egyptian side took place in order to find out the truth about this arrest; the Egyptian side represented in the intelligence apparatus promised to release him on Saturday 18/9/2010," the spokesman said.

He added that the Egyptian intelligence broke its promise and asserted he would be released on Sunday and later said his release would be on Monday, but until now he is still in detention.

The spokesman expressed his Movement's dismay at the Egyptian media which hailed the arrest of Dababesh as a strong blow dealt to Hamas and made lies about seizing money and electronic devices he tried to smuggle into Gaza.

"We see this as an offence to Palestinian-Egyptian relations. It was unacceptable and unjustified," he emphasized.

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