U.S. Army withdraws temporarily from Gaza tunnel project

By Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) –The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended work on
a tunnel detection system on Egypt's border with Gaza in light of the ongoing
war there, according to Lt Col Patrick Ryder a Pentagon spokesman.

The project has been ongoing since late 2007, when Egypt requested U.S.
military help in developing technology to detect tunnels Hamas was digging
between Gaza and Egypt.

About a dozen civilian personnel from the Corps are now in "safe areas"
according to Ryder and there are no immediate plans to send them back to the
border.

The Corps work has focused on tunnel detection, not destruction
according to US officials. The project has involved setting up a series of
sensors capable of detecting underground tunnels and activity in the tunnels
according to several U.S. military officials.

The project, which had been openly discussed in the past, is now
considered extremely sensitive in light of the ongoing Israeli war against
Hamas in Gaza. U.S. officials are now offering few details.

"We have assisted them with design, procurement, assembly and
installation, and training in a border tunnel activity detection system," said
Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, a spokesperson for the Corps. Robbins emphasized the
project is led by the Egyptian government.

U.S. involvement follows some high level visits several months ago by top
State Department and Pentagon officials who went to the so-called Philadelphia
corridor in the region where the tunnels are located to make a series of
recommendations to the Egyptian government.

A senior State Department official emphasized to CNN the U.S.
recommendations were on ways to detect tunnel activity, not on destroying them
or killing people using the tunnels.