Cairo demo calls on Hezbollah to destroy Tel Aviv
CAIRO: The Mufti of Egypt, the country s senior exponent of Islamic law, said the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah was defending Lebanon against Israeli injustice.
The attacks, killing and destruction that are taking place in Lebanon now by Israeli forces are injustice itself, Mufti Ali Gomaa told a meeting in southern Egypt. He was quoted by the state news agency MENA on Friday.
This gives the Lebanese the right to defend themselves. Hezbollah is defending its country and what it is doing is not terrorism, said Gomaa, a government appointee.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla groups should weigh the gains and losses of their operations, but Egypt has not condemned the cross-border raid in which Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12. Israel responded by bombing targets in Lebanon.
In Cairo after noon prayers on Friday, about 1,000 people protested peacefully against Israeli attacks in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Many of them chanted slogans in support of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Also on the same day, hundreds of worshippers gathered in Cairo s historic Al-Azhar mosque Friday to protest Israel s crushing offensive on Lebanon, calling on the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah to destroy Tel Aviv.
The worshippers carried Lebanese flags and lifted pictures of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah s leader, an AFP correspondent reported.
Our beloved Hezbollah, destroy Tel Aviv. Our beloved Nasrallah, destroy Tel Aviv, the protesters shouted, in the courtyard of the 10th century mosque, with riot police on standby outside.
The protesters also lashed out at Arab leaders for their muted voices in the face of the Israeli offensive.
Our leaders, why are you silent? their chants echoed in Sunni Islam s main seat of learning.
The chants quickly turned against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdallah, who had criticised Hezbollah s adventurism after the Shiite group captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12.
The capture triggered a devastating military offensive by Israel which has left more than 420 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians and destroyed the country s infrastructure.
Down with Mubarak and down with [Saudi King Abdallah], they chanted.
Last week, clashes broke out between police and protesters who had also gathered at the Al-Azhar mosque to denounce military operations by Israel.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab states to have peace deals with Israel. Agencies
