TABA, Egypt, Oct 9 (AFP) - Abdelaziz had never met an Israeli before, but in a rare display of Jewish-Arab cooperation, this Egyptian rescuer and dozens of others are working hand in hand with their Israeli counterparts to retrieve more bodies from Taba's Hilton hotel.
The black uniforms of Egyptian rescue workers and the green fatigues of Israeli troops blend effectively as the teams dig and shovel through the devastation left at at this Red Sea resort, where bombings Thursday left at least 32 dead, most of them Israelis.
"This is the first time I deal with an Israeli," admits Abdelaziz, from Egypt's civil defence corps. "I had never seen one in my life, except on television."
"Cooperation between both sides is excellent," says Sinai Governor Mustafa Afifi. "We showed them what we are made of, and although they have sophisticated equipment, we have plenty of good old-fashioned muscle power."
One Israeli rescuer who has just found yet another body shouts for a stretcher and a body bag.
In response, Egyptian Red Crescent volunteers and an Israeli soldier rush to the scene of the discovery.
Both sides fight against the stench of death as they toil away at the pile of debris and once the body has been retrieved, they congratulate each other on their joint effort.
Although the authorities of both countries were struggling to identify all the bodies, the vast majority appeared to be among the estimated 30,000 Israelis who had crossed the border to spend the Jewish feast of Sukkot in their favourite Sinai resorts.
Yet the grim aftermath of the bombings in Taba and the backpackers resort of Nuweiba further down the Red Sea coast, where two more people were killed, briefly revived a frosty peace deal signed between the two neighbours in 1979.
The frantic effort to find survivors or bodies amid the blood-stained debris of the luxury Hilton Hotel led to an unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination on the ground between the two nations, whose ties have been rocked by the ongoing Palestinian intifada.
Egypt immediately opened its borders to Israeli rescue teams after Thursday night's attacks and was swift to dispatch its own manpower to assist in the emergency operation.
"I am aware that it must be very difficult for the Egyptians to see Israeli soldiers working here, especially here in Taba," said an Israeli in charge of one rescue unit, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"When we arrived, there a certain degree of resentment between the two sides, but it quickly gave way to cooperation in the face of the task we were facing," he explained.
Taba lies at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, where the borders of Egypt, Israel and Jordan meet. The town had been at the centre of a dispute between Egypt and Israel, before an international ruling definitively assigned it to the Arab state in the late 1980s.
Following Thursday's attacks, both countries brushed aside any past differences and displayed a united stance.
"Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon and Egyptian President Mubarak agreed to concentrate efforts and forces in the war on terrorism, and noted that there is no difference between terrorism and terrorism," said a statement released Friday by the Israeli premier's office.