Denmark hosts Gaza arms smuggling conference

Feb 4, 2009, 9:58 GMT

Copenhagen - A two-day conference hosted by Denmark on how to halt arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip opened on Wednesday, the Dutch foreign ministry said.

The meeting was organized in conjunction with the United States to review how international help could be offered to prevent weapons smuggling, legal issues as well as charting the routes used by smugglers. It includes officials from the United States, several European Union member states and Norway.

Preventing the flow of arms to Hamas-controlled Gaza was one of the conditions Israel demanded on ending its 22-day offensive on Gaza last month.

'The expert meeting is a significant contribution to further the international community's collective efforts to ensure a lasting ceasefire and to improve the situation for the populations in the area, including the suffering Palestinian population in Gaza,' Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said in a statement.

'Opening of the borders to Gaza is crucial. There is a need for immediate full access for humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of Gaza needs to be started,' Moller added.

Delegates were expected from the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.

On the eve of the meeting, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Moller told the Danish parliament's foreign affairs committee that Denmark was prepared to contribute a vessel to patrol the waters in the eastern Mediterranean should this be recommended by the expert meeting.

Last month, Denmark along with the Netherlands suggested that EU countries send police officers to monitor the border between Gaza and Egypt, but Cairo was reported to be lukewarm about such a move.