Sunday, February 01, 2009

AFP, Cairo, Jan 30, 2009 – Egypt on Friday accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah of being an agent of Iran, after his tirades against Cairo during Israel’s military assault on the impoverished Palestinian territory.
“Hassan Nasrallah’s criticism of Egypt confirms once more that he is nothing more than an agent of the Iranian regime and takes his orders from Tehran,” it charged in a government statement.
On Thursday, Nasrallah, whose militant group is supported by Damascus and Tehran, slammed Egypt on the grounds it continues to keep its Rafah border post with Gaza closed while claiming to have opened it.
Rafah is the only land exit point from Gaza which does not lead into Israel.
Nasrallah accused Cairo of complicity in the Israeli blockade on Gaza and cast doubt on Egypt’s neutrality in efforts to mediate a formal ceasefire.
Medics say more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s 22-day assault on Gaza, launched on December 27 in a bid to halt Palestinian rocket fire on its territory and the smuggling of arms from Egypt