Palestinians march in West Bank to support Egyptian gov't

English>>World

Editor's Pick

Palestinians march in West Bank to support Egyptian gov't

(Xinhua) 08:52, September 04, 2013

Email|Print|Comments

twitter

facebook

Sina Microblog

RAMALLAH, Sept. 3 -- Dozens of Palestinians marched in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday in support of the army- backed Egyptian government.

The demonstration was organized by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

The protesters carried Egyptian and Palestinian flags and banners, urging for not meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt, which has experienced political and security turmoil since the military ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

"Fatah welcomes the correction of the situation in Egypt and the army's response to the public demand," said Mahmoud Al-Aloul, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, referring to the Egyptian people's protests against Morsi's one-year rule.

The demonstration also made implicit criticism of the Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival which controls the Gaza Strip and an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement from which Morsi hails.

Yasser Othman, Egypt's ambassador in the West Bank, who participated in the gathering, thanked the marchers and criticized Hamas for meddling in the Egyptian affairs.

Saying it tries to restore order in the restive Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian military has recently started a major campaign to shut down smuggling tunnels beneath its borders with Gaza, depriving Hamas from a main source of income and causing shortages in construction materials and fuel that come from through the tunnels.

Asked about the clampdown on the tunnels, Othman said the measures "are carried out inside the Egyptian territories and they aim at preserving the Egyptian national security."

（Editor：YaoChun、Liang Jun）