Egypt "central player" in region, Israel's Barak says

Dec 20, 2009, 15:12 GMT

Jerusalem - Egypt is a central player in the Middle East, Israel Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Egyptian security chief Omar Suleiman, as the two met in Jerusalem for discussions on regional threats.

Barak and Suleiman also discussed the challenges Israel and Egypt face, the Defence Minister office said.

Egypt has been instrumental in trying to mediate a prisoner swap between Israel the Islamist Hamas movement, which is demanding the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of an Israeli soldier snatched during a cross border raid launched from the Gaza Strip on June 25, 2006.

Egyptian sources were quoted Saturday as denying that Suleiman's visit to Jerusalem had any connection to the negotiations, which reportedly have picked up speed since Germany joined the mediation efforts some months ago.

According to Israeli media reports, the Egyptian official's visit to Israel was prompted by a boost in joint efforts by Jerusalem and Cairo to prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip via tunnels.

Reports last week said Egypt had begun to build a sturdy, impenetrable metal wall under the ground near its border with Gaza in order to block the tunnels, which are used to smuggle goods and weapons into the Israeli-and-Egyptian blockaded Strip.