ISRAEL OKs EGYPTIAN TROOPS, ARMOR IN SINAI

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel has approved in principle the deployment ofEgyptian special forces, heavy weapons and armor in eastern Sinai. Israeli officials said the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hasagreed to an Egyptian proposal for the deployment of 750 border guard troopsin eastern Sinai. They said the troops would be equipped with armored combatvehicles, medium- to heavy weapons and would patrol the Israeli-Egyptian aswell as the Egyptian-Gaza border.