Tuesday December 30, 2008

Egypt responds to Hezbollah criticism over Gaza

ANKARA (Reuters) - Egypt hit back at the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah on Monday in a war of words over Gaza, reflecting the divide between conservative Arab governments and popular forces willing to confront Israel.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, on a visit to Turkey, said that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah wanted to create trouble in Egypt in the service of outside interests, apparently a reference to Iranian support for Hezbollah.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan (R) and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit attend a news conference in Ankara December 29, 2008. (REUTERS/Umit Bektas)

"The honourable (Egyptian) armed forces are capable of defending this homeland from people like you. You want to create chaos in this region as a service to interests that are not for the good of this region," Aboul Gheit said. He was quoted by the Egyptian state news agency MENA.

The Egyptian government has been under attack for the past two days because of its cooperation with Israel in imposing a blockade on the Gaza Palestinians for the past six months.

Aboul Gheit is also on the defensive because he was photographed holding hands with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni two days before Israel began the air offensive which has so far killed more than 325 people in Gaza.

In Ankara he was responding to speeches at a Hezbollah rally in Beirut on Sunday, where speakers accused Egypt of complicity with Israel against Gaza and called on the Egyptian government to end its policy of cooperation with the blockade.

"The Egyptian position is the cornerstone of what is going on in Gaza ... Egyptian officials: if you don't open the Rafah crossing then you are partners in the crime, partners in the murder," Nasrallah said.

He urged Egyptians to take to the streets to force Cairo to open the border with Gaza.

Aboul Gheit said: "One of those who spoke yesterday asked the Egyptian people to go down to the street and create a state of chaos in Egypt as they have created chaos in their country. He also addressed the Egyptian armed forces, asking them to mutiny. This person knows nothing about anything."

The crisis over Gaza is the most serious foreign policy challenge the Egyptian government has faced for years because it is the only Arab country that borders Gaza.

Egyptian officials say they fear that if they opened their Gaza border without restrictions, Israel would seal its border, forcing Egypt to take responsibility for the poor coastal strip's 1.5 million people and risk an influx of Gazans.

Aboul Gheit said that certain satellite television channels, states and individuals had declared war on Egypt. "If that means a declaration of war against the Egyptian people, then the Egyptian people will stand up to this war," he added.

But demonstrators in Egypt have been harshly critical of their own government for working with the Israelis on Gaza.

Nasrallah said on Monday Hezbollah had decided not to hold protests at the Egyptian embassy to avoid trouble. "We are embarking on a peaceful movement and a peaceful demand that the Egyptian position should change but we are not going to attack anyone," he said.

Distrust between Hezbollah and the Egyptian government dates back at least to the Israeli-Lebanese war of 2006, when Egypt initially accused Hezbollah of recklessness.

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