CAIRO: An unnamed Egyptian official told state-run Al-Ahram newspaper Thursday that two members of an Iranian television station in Egypt were involved in a smuggling cell allegedly run by Hezbollah near the border with Gaza.
The official claimed Iran was involved through two employees at the office of an Iranian satellite television station in Cairo, who were also allegedly involved with other members of the cell.
He went on to say that the cell included Syrian and Sudanese members as well as Egyptians, Palestinians and Lebanese that previous reports had indicated were arrested.
He added that they had intended to use protests by the Muslim Brotherhood as a smokescreen to carry out attacks.
Egypt’s Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud has accused Hezbollah outright and its leader Hassan Nasrallah of coordinating a terrorist cell in Egypt that had intended to target tourist sites and ships passing through the Suez Canal.
State security has arrested 49 people near the Gaza border for alleged ties with Hezbollah and Hamas. Those arrested include Lebanese, Palestinians and Egyptians and they are allegedly being investigated for smuggling activities beneath the Egypt-Gaza border in the town of Rafah. Hamas have denied any involvement in this cell, despite the prosecutor’s assertion that the cell was initially formed to supply Hamas with funds and arms.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Al Jazeera that Hamas had only learnt of this cell through media reports and insisted that Hamas “does not recruit any individual outside of Palestine.
“Egypt has the right to secure its borders and enforce its sovereignty over its lands, he added, “[this case] involves the security of Egypt and has nothing to do with the Gaza strip.
Sources in the area told Daily News Egypt that some of the arrests had been carried out several months ago, with later arrests conducted in the intervening period. Initially, seven Egyptians, seven Palestinians and three Lebanese were taken for questioning some four months ago.
Additionally, sources indicated 39 out of the 49 arrested were Egyptians suspected of being involved in tunnel smuggling into Gaza, alongside the seven Palestinians and three Lebanese detainees.
Egypt’s state prosecutor on Wednesday accused Hezbollah of plotting to carry out attacks inside the country.
“The state prosecutor has received a statement from state security which shows that leaders from the Lebanese Hezbollah have called on its cadres to recruit members to its movement, read a statement from the prosecutor.
Islamist lawyer Montasser Al-Zayat told Al Jazeera Tuesday the detainees are suspected of supplying funds to Hamas and that one of the Lebanese detainees is suspected of being the Hezbollah liaison with Hamas in Gaza.
The man accused of being the Hezbollah liaison is 28-year-old Samy Hany, who was reportedly found to be in possession of ownership contracts for houses in Rafah along the border, which were believed to have been used for smuggling weapons and funds to Hamas.
