Naim Kassem
Photo: AP
Deputy Hizbullah chief: Cairo looking for victim
Exchange of accusations between Egypt, Shiite organization over uncovered terror network continues. Sheikh Naim Kassem says Egyptians seeking to 'clear their image in the eyes of the Americans and Israelis'
Hizbullah's deputy
secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Kassem, says Cairo is looking for a victim for revenge after losing its status in the region.
"Egypt is suffering from a drop in its status to such an extent that the Americans have approached Iran and Turkey in order to compensate themselves for its loss," said Kassem, adding that Egypt can no longer make an impact on the Palestinian matter due to the conditions posed by Israel.
In an interview to Syrian newspaper al-Watan published Monday, Kassem said that the uncovering of a Hizbullah cell which operated in Egypt would not divert his organization from continuing to work for the Palestinians.
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According to Kassem, the Egyptians are looking for a victim in order to "clear their image in the eyes of the Americans and Israelis."
Kassem also defended the leader of the Hizbullah terror cell in Egypt, Sami Shihab, who has been arrested by the Egyptian authorities: "The investigation proved that Shihab was ordered by his commanders not to deal with the Egyptian issue, but only to transport weapons to the Gaza Strip."
Kassem said his organization had operated the cell secretly, so as not to embarrass the Egyptians in public. "The Egyptian government has its commitments and we didn’t want to cause any embarrassment. We operated secretly and supported the Palestinians in order to ease the duty imposed on others – a duty which they cannot perform and which they will never perform.
"We have nothing to do with damaging the Egyptian sovereignty, and this is not included in the things we are interested in. We are only dealing with the conflict with Israel."
'Israel will not attack us'
Kassem was asked whether Israel could launch a new war against his organization in an attempt to disrupt the general elections in Lebanon next month, if it turned out that the opposition led by his organization was expected to win."We do not anticipate an Israeli attack. Israel will not influence the elections as this issue is vital to everyone, both from the regional and the international aspect," he said.
Asked about his opinion on the indirect dialogue between the United States and Iran, he said, "We don’t think that the negotiations being held between the US and Iran are our direct concern. It's too early to talk about the ramifications of the America-Iranian dialogue in the region."
Meanwhile, Egyptian sources have once again rejected reports on attempts to mediate between Cairo and Hizbullah. "There are no mediation efforts," an Egyptian source told the London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper.
The source estimated that an Egyptian court will hear the matter of the Hizbullah cell in the coming days.
