Egypt”s Security Is a Red Line
Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed al-Nazif has warned against attempts to destabilize Egypt saying security was a "red line," as the public prosecutor started interrogations with a Hizbullah member accused of planning attacks in the Arab country.
Egyptian authorities disclosed last week the arrest of 49 people, including Lebanese citizen Sami Shihab, on charges of plotting attacks on behalf of Hizbullah. The Lebanese group”s chief Hassan Nasrallah confirmed on Friday that Shihab was indeed a member of the group but denied seeking to destabilize the country.
"Egypt”s security is a red line that cannot be breached, touched or harmed. Egytpian security services are quite capable of protecting the domestic front," Nazif told the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily in comments published Sunday.
In a stern warning, Nazif said his country "will not allow any party, inside or outside Egypt, to endanger the lives of Egyptian citizens or jeopardize the national economy."
Al-Hayat said that a "broad team of investigators has started questioning the 49 suspects."
Montassar el-Zayat, a lawyer for some of the defendants, has been allowed to attend the investigations "for the first time" since they were launched, the pan-Arab daily reported.
Zayat told AFP last week that Shihab”s brother asked him to represent him but he had not been allowed to see him or attend interrogations. Zayat said he expected Shihab to be sentenced to three years in prison, al-Hayat said, citing sources.
In December, after Israel launched a devastating offensive in Gaza, Nasrallah called on Egyptians to take to the streets in their millions to force open the crossing and urged Egyptian army commanders to resign in protest.
Egyptian officials accused Nasrallah of fomenting sedition and state media branded him an "Iranian agent."
Nasrallah said Shihab was working to help the Palestinian resistance against Israel.
"What he was doing on the Egyptian-Palestinian border was logistic work to help the Palestinian brothers to transport equipment for the resistance in Palestine," Nasrallah said.