Channels

'Abandoned resistance motto.' Nasrallah
Photo: AFP
Threatened Jordan. Bin Laden
Photo: AFP

Egypt: Hizbullah will pay heavy price for plotting attacks

Official says Cairo has 'all the means, options' to punish Shiite group for attempting to 'undermine Egyptian sovereignty'; Jordan raises alert level following terror threats

Hizbullah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah "will pay a heavy price for plotting terror attacks aimed at undermining Egypt's sovereignty," an Egyptian official was quoted as saying by the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram on Wednesday.

 

The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Egypt "has all the means and options to punish Hizbullah," but stressed that by "means and options" he was not referring to attacks on the Lebanese Shiite group's bases or facilities.

  

"The group can be contained through a series of measures," the official said.

 

Sami Shihab, the head of a Hizbullah cell in Egypt, told police in his investigation that the group planned three simultaneous terror attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in three different tourist spots in Sinai.

 

Parts of Shihab's investigation were published in al-Ahram on Tuesday, and according to the report, the organization planned to publish an announcement after the attacks claiming responsibility for them.

 

'Advancing Iran's interests in the region'

According to the Egyptian official, the investigation has revealed that Nasrallah "abandoned the resistance slogan and has begun carrying out terror attacks on Egyptian soil.

 

"Egypt will not take these crimes lightly," he added. "Egypt's loyalty to the Lebanese people is preventing it from punishing Hizbullah; this is the root of the crisis. However, Egypt can prevent Lebanese ministers affiliated with Hizbullah and other members of the Shiite group from entering the country."

 

The official continued to say that the investigation in Egypt has proven "beyond doubt" that Hizbullah was plotting to attack in Egypt with the aim of "advancing Iran's interests in the region."

 

Meanwhile, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Wednesday that Jordan's security forces have raised their alert level recently for fear of attempts to carry out terror attacks in the Hashemite Kingdom.

 

Jordanian officials told the newspaper that the government has decided to take the threats issued against it, particularly by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, seriously. However, the officials said there was no concrete warning of a plot to attack in Jordan. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.15.09, 11:34
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment