Egypt police close Gaza border crossing point for 2nd day to protest kidnap

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A main Egyptian crossing point into the Gaza Strip has been closed for the second day on Saturday by the Egyptian police who were protesting at the abduction of their colleagues in Sinai, a local official told Xinhua.

Hundreds of travelers on both sides are stuck in the Rafah crossing point, Gaza's only gate to the outside world, due to the closure, the sources said.

The Islamic Hamas movement which rules Gaza said it's contacting with the Egyptian authorities to reopen the crossing point.

"Gaza has no links with the abduction at all," said Yousef Rezka, an aide to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, adding that the Egyptian policemen's protest "negatively affects the life of Gazans."

The crossing was closed Friday morning, a day after a group of unknown militants kidnapped seven Egyptian security personnel in El-Arish, the capital of Egypt's North Sinai governorate, four of whom were policemen working at Rafah crossing.

In August, unknown militants shot dead 16 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai. Egyptian media blamed the militants in Gaza for the attack, which Hamas strongly denied. Endi

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