Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.
The Sphinx, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions |
Egypt has uncovered an alleged attempt by Hezbollah to blow up a popular Egyptian tourist attraction in retaliation for the country's assistance to Israel while it attacked Gaza Strip radicals in late 2008 and earlier this year, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
And observers say the episode may be only a symptom of a greater problem in which Hezbollah is the tip of the spear on behalf of Shiite Iran in its campaign to contain predominantly Sunni countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia – a dispute that if left to evolve fully could lead to a violent confrontation, especially with Saudi Arabia.
It was Egypt's support for Israel that triggered Hezbollah plans for three major bombing operations in tourist areas in Egypt, but the plot was discovered and halted, Egyptian officials say.
TRENDING: Greatest Show on Earth: The Hur report hearing
Authorities there say they found a Hezbollah cell in Egypt numbering some 49 people.
Twenty-four of the cell members reportedly remain at large and include three Sudanese working for Hezbollah intelligence. They allegedly were transferring weapons from the Sudan-Egypt borders to the Sinai region, where Egypt borders Israel.
Egypt's Interior Ministry claimed the arrested members were plotting attacks against Egypt and "spreading Shiite thought."
Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about critical developments around the globe with Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.
The concern over such activity rises all the way to the top of the United Nations, where Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern that the Hezbollah is operating outside of Lebanese territory and violating Egyptian sovereignty.
"I am alarmed that Hezbollah publicly admitted to providing support to Gaza-based militants from Egyptian territory," he said. "Such activity indicates that Hezbollah operates outside Lebanese territory and beyond its stated national agenda. I condemn such unwarranted interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign member state."
"I call upon Hezbollah to cease any militant activities outside of Lebanon and to complete its transformation into a solely Lebanese political party…," Ban added.
In a move virtually assured of escalating the confrontation, an Egyptian state-controlled newspaper called Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah a "monkey sheik."
"We do not allow you, Oh Monkey Sheik, to mock our judiciary, for you are a bandit and veteran criminal who killed your countrymen, but we will not allow you to threaten the security and safety of Egypt. … And if you threaten its sovereignty, you will burn," according to the al-Gomhouria newspaper editorial, written by its editor, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim. The newspaper is a mouthpiece of the Egyptian government.
"I say to you what every Egyptian knows, that you are an Iranian party," Ibrahim wrote. "Are there instructions from Iran to drag Egypt into a conflict?"
Revelation of a Hezbollah cell in Egypt is just the tip of the iceberg of far deeper regional problems, according to Abdel-Moneim Said, director of the Egyptian think-tank Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
For the complete report and full immediate access to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.