Aboul-Gheit: Egypt stands by Lebanon
Photo: AP
Egypt rejects Scud suspicions
Foreign minister says Israel's fears Syria supplied Hezbollah with long-range missiles are 'laughable'
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit dismissed as "laughable" on Saturday US and Israeli fears that Syria has been supplying Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with Scud missiles.
"These allegations are lies and are laughable," Aboul Gheit told reporters in Beirut as he began an official visit. "Egypt stands by Lebanon under all conditions and in the face of all threats."
Intel
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Earlier this month, President Shimon Peres accused Syria of arming Hezbollah with Scuds, a charge Damascus has strongly denied.
Washington has stopped short of openly accusing Damascus of supplying Hezbollah with the missiles, but has said Syria has been providing the group with a "wider array" of weaponry.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has also rejected the claims. "Suddenly, the press tells us of the presence of Scud missiles in Lebanon, which are huge missiles," he said Monday.
"These allegations are similar to reports on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. These weapons have not been found."
Originally developed by the USSR, Scud missiles are nearly eleven meters long and can hit targets up to 500 km away.
During the war between Hezbollah and Israel in summer 2006, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on northern Israel. The conflict claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis.
The Scud allegations come as the US administration has boosted relations with Syria and US lawmakers have seized on them to argue against a bigger rapprochement.
Relations between Damascus and Washington plummeted after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in a Beirut car bombing widely blamed on Syria and its allies.
Relations were already strained amid US allegations that Syria was not doing enough to prevent the flow of arms and recruits to the anti-US insurgency in neighboring Iraq.
