CAIRO: Egypt warned Israel that its foolish war in Lebanon against Hezbollah threatened Egypt-Israeli ties, Egypt s foreign minister said in a television interview broadcast on Friday. In a rebuttal of accusations from ordinary Arabs that Egypt could have done more to defend Lebanon and back Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said Egypt had made its anger clear to Israel. Letters (to Israel) expressed anger and resentment and requests to stop and warnings that the Egypt-Israeli relationship may be affected in future, Abul-Gheit said. We were aware of the magnitude of the casualties, of the deaths, the magnitude of the damage and also the size of Israeli foolishness and that of Hezbollah s mistake, he added. Egypt is one of only two Arab states that have peace treaties with Israel. Its pleas for Israel to halt its attacks on Lebanon in its war against Hezbollah were ignored. The Shiite Islamist group s capture of two Israeli soldiers in July preceded Israeli air and ground attacks. Arab public opinion had strongly criticized Egypt s failure to hold Israel back and also President Hosni Mubarak s indirect criticism of Hezbollah at the beginning of the conflict. In the interview, broadcast on satellite channel Al-Mehwar, Abul-Gheit defended Egypt s initial response to the war. He referred to recent statements made by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in which he said his group would not have kidnapped the Israeli soldiers had he known that Israel s reaction would produce a 34-day war. Nasrallah s speech … has major significance that should not be missed and proves the wisdom of Egypt s handling of its interests and that of the region, Abul-Gheit said. Reuters
Egypt says it warned Israel against "foolish" war
