President Hosni Mubarak on Monday warned that the anticipated indictment by a UN Special Tribunal of a senior Hizbollah official as the main suspect in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Premiere Rafik Hariri could aggravate the already-tense situation in Lebanon.
"Activities in the Lebanese arena now revolve around the expected indictment by the UN Special Tribunal on the Hariri assassination,” Mubarak said in an interview with the official Armed Forces newspaper on the occasion of the thirty-seventh anniversary of the October 1973 war.
“The harmony of Lebanon and the coexistence of all its communities and peoples should not be held hostage to this indictment–whatever its content," the president added.
The relationship between Egypt and the Shia resistance movement has come under strain recently after Hizbollah officials accused Egypt and Jordan of training Sunni militias tied to the Lebanese Future Movement, which is led by the slain Lebanese leader's son Saad Hariri.
Lebanon's former General Security chief, Major-General Jamil al-Sayyed, also recently accused Egypt of attempting to destabilize Lebanon.
Egypt, for its part, has strenuously denied the allegations.
"These reports are totally unfounded," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said on Monday. "We are well aware of their purpose, which is to hinder the Egyptian role in achieving stability in Lebanon.”
“But this is not going to happen," stressed Zaki, "since Egypt is committed to supporting the Lebanese state and its institutions."
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
