Wednesday April 15, 2009 00:30 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
As tension mounts between Egypt and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party over alleged Hezbollah plans to carry attacks against Israelis touring Egypt, and the arrests conducted by Egypt against those who are believed to be planning the attacks, Egyptian security forces boosted their presence on borders with Israel and Gaza, while Israel did the same on its side.
Hasan Nasrallah
Egyptian sources reported on Tuesday that Egypt detained 25 men carrying Egyptian, Palestinian, Sudanese and Lebanese nationalities who are believed to be linked to Hezbollah and are believed to be planning attacks in Egypt.
But Hezbollah denied that Egyptian claims and said that it is no operating in Egypt and that it wanted to support the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.
An Egyptian security official said that more border policemen were deployed along the borders with Israel, while Israel also deployed additional forces along the border.
The Egyptian police are still holding a search campaign in Sinai in an attempt to arrest the remaining members of a “Hezbollah” group that includes 49 men, and is believed to be hiding in the mountains.
The police said they are also searching for ten Lebanese nationals and three Sudanese.
Abdul-Mon’im Abdul-Maqsoud, a lawyer representing some of the individuals arrested by Egypt, said that one of his clients told him that he participated in helping Palestinians who intended to infiltrate into Israel in order to carry attacks against the occupation.
Furthermore, armed clashes were reported between residents of Sinai and the Egyptian police who attempted to enter the area and search it.
Tension is still high in Sinai as it also dates back to several years ago when Egyptian security forces arrested a large number of Bedouins believed to be involved in a series of explosions in southern Sinai. Most of them were released later on without trial.
On its side, Israel also deployed a large number of soldiers and declared high alert along the borders with Egypt.
An Israeli official said that this incident did not sabotage the “good relations” between Israel and Egypt, and added that Egyptian and Israeli officials regularly brief each other on latest developments in the area.
Israel urged Israelis visiting Sinai to return back to Israel. Many Israelis like to spend Pesach and other Jewish or Israeli feasts in Sinai and at the Sham Al Sheik Resort.
The official said that Israel deployed its troops along the 200 km border line with Egypt.
On Its side, Egypt said its forces are chasing 13 men believed to be connected to a Hezbollah cell.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Ahmad Abu Al Gheit, accused Iran of recruiting Hezbollah members to operate in Egyptian territories.
Abu Al Gheit told to the As Shaq Al Awsat (Middle East) daily newspaper that the coming days will prove that Iran used Hezbollah in order to infiltrate Egypt.
He added that “the presence of Iran through Hezbollah on the Mediterranean coast is a clear message to the West, to Israel, to Egypt and to all Arabs, that Hezbollah is here and will affect the interests of those countries”.
Hezbollah chief, Hasan Nasrallah, said that one of the arrestees, Sami, is a member of Hezbollah, and that he was attempting to help the Palestinian resistance, by attempting to transferring weapons and logistics to the resistance in Gaza.
He added that Hezbollah did not plan attacks in Egypt, and did not plan the so-called plans assassinations of officials in Egypt.
Nasrallah added that if aiding the besieged and hungry Palestinians in Gaza and that if aiding the resistance in Gaza is a crime “Then I confess to this crime”.
He also said that the Egyptian regime should be convicted for participating in the siege against Gaza, and added that Egypt is demolishing tunnels used to transfer medicine, food, even live-stock to the besieged residents in Gaza.
Nasrallah further stated that while Israel formed it’s most extreme government, the Netanyahu-Lieberman government, and while Lieberman insulted Egypt and its president, the country is still participating in the Gaza siege, and still cooperating with Israel.
Nasrallah said that his party did not and will not plan attacks targeting Egypt and its interests and facilities in Egypt and elsewhere.
The Hezbollah leader added that the resistance, including Hezbollah and Hamas, is gaining more public support, an issue which pushes some leaders to claim the Hezbollah is acting to topple Arabic regimes and target the security of Arab countries.
“Let me state this clearly, Hezbollah does not want or seek hostilities in the Arab and Islamic worlds, our conflict is with the Israeli occupation and the US government support to the occupation”, he said, “We do not want any conflict with the Arab regimens, not even on the media level, we are a humble Lebanese party, do not have branches outside of Lebanon, our main cause is liberating the land, protect Lebanon and counter the Zionist project which affects the whole region”.
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