Egypt clamps down on Gaza supporters

An Egyptian court official says a military tribunal has convicted an opposition lawmaker of illegally crossing into Gaza and sentenced him to two years in prison and $1,000 dollars fine after a lightning fast trial. And Egyptian police have seized 30 trucks laden with goods they say were destined to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip and arrested the drivers. The secretary general of the banned Labor party, Magdi Hussein, was arrested Jan. 31 after trying to re-enter Egypt from Gaza without a passport. A judicial official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Hussein was convicted Wednesday of using an underground tunnel to cross into Gaza. Defense lawyer Mohammed Moneib said Hussein was deprived of his right to defend himself as no lawyers were permitted into the trial. The trucks were seized over a two day period as they tried to bring food, consumer goods and home appliances towards the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip, the official said, asking not to be named. Egypt has the only crossing into Gaza that bypasses Israel, which has kept the isolated territory under a crippling blockade since the Islamist Palestinian Hamas group violently took control there in June 2007. Egypt refuses to reopen the Rafah crossing permanently without the presence of European Union observers and forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.