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Woman dies as pilgrims stranded
02/01/2008 17:51 - (SA)
El-Arish - A Palestinian woman died while waiting in Egypt with more than 2 000 other pilgrims to return home to Gaza, a security official said on Wednesday, as hundreds more arrived at the tense border.
Mariam Mohammed Edwani, 65, died of a heart attack overnight and her body was taken to the morgue at El-Arish in northern Egypt, the official said.
The pilgrims, now totalling 2 150, have been refusing since Sunday to be moved into camps until they are given clearance to return to Gaza without going through Israel where they might face arrest.
"The pilgrims are refusing to leave their buses and their condition is getting worse day by day," the official said.
The first batch of Palestinians were bussed to El-Arish after having been stuck on boats off Egypt's Red Sea port of Nuweiba since Saturday.
Egypt on Sunday decided to move the pilgrims to the El-Arish stadium and to temporary camps in the coastal city until the dispute is resolved but they refused to leave the buses and began to stage protests.
Hundreds of members of Egyptian security forces have been deployed in the area.
The pilgrims refuse to go back to Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Salem crossing because many of them are relatives of people wanted by Israeli authorities, according to Hamas.
In mid-December, hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims were allowed to leave for the haj via Rafah, Gaza's only window on the outside world that bypasses Israel.
Hundreds more left through the Erez crossing, which links the Palestinian territory with Israel.
On December 3, some 2 000 Palestinians from Gaza were allowed to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since Islamist Hamas seized power in the territory in June.
But Israel protested the move, saying that Hamas-linked militants might take the opportunity to leave for training or to bring weapons back into the impoverished territory.
- AFP
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