Egypt accuses Israel over cuts to US military aid

Egypt has accused Israel of intervening to suspend $100m in US military aid to Cairo.

The US Congress has frozen the $100m portion of Egypt's annual military aid, pending further proof that the country is stepping up efforts to halt the smuggling of weapons into Gaza through tunnels along its border.

Cairo claims Israel has engineered the move, a claim denied by Israeli officials.

The Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, is currently in Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on halting the supply of weapons into Gaza.

A presidential spokesman says Egypt is making every effort to detect tunnels under the border and stop the flow of arms, but that it cannot guarantee that it will stop all smuggling.