Egypt Requests Additional Troops In Sinai

CAIRO [MENL] -- Egypt has requested additional troops to patrol its border
with the Gaza Strip.
Officials said Egypt relayed a request to Israel for at least 750 border
officers along the 14-kilometer Sinai-Gaza border. They said the officers --
which would boost the total number of Egyptian forces to 2,000 -- would be
equipped with heavy weapons, armored vehicles and night-vision systems.
"We requested another 750 soldiers to monitor this region in addition to
the 750 soldiers from the border guard unit that are already there after
Egypt signed the protocol with Israel," Mohammed Bassiouny, chairman of the
Egyptian National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said.