Egypt applies the heat on small Shi'ite community after Hizbullah arrests
CAIRO Ñ Egypt is pressuring its tiny Shi'ite community to
denounce the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah following arrests of operatives operating in the Sinai near the border with Gaza.
Shi'ite sources said the Interior Ministry has been pressing community
leaders to condemn Hizbullah, particularly its alleged insurgency
network that operated in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula. The sources said the
ministry also sought Egyptian Shi'ite cooperation to penetrate Hizbullah.
"Experience in recent years has shown that strain between Egypt and Iran
or Hizbullah reflects badly on Egyptian Shi'ites," Ahmed Al Nafees, a
leading Egyptian Shi'ite who has been arrested three times, said. "Egyptian
Shi'ite loyalty has been questioned for no good reason."
Egypt, with a population of 80 million, was said to contain a Shi'ite
community of 750,000. The sources said the community has been closely
monitored for links to Iran and Hizbullah or efforts to convert members of
the Sunni majority.
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The sources said scores of Shi'ites have been interrogated amid the
investigation of the Hizbullah cell, which recruited Egyptians, Lebanese,
Palestinians and Sudanese. About 50 people have been charged with membership
as well as plotting against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
The Hizbullah network was said to have been operating in Egypt since
2003. On May 18, the state-owned Al Musawar weekly said the network,
allegedly headed by Lebanese national Mohammed Yusef Mansour, received
millions of dollars from Hizbullah to prepare attacks on shipping in the
Suez Canal and tourists in the Sinai Peninsula.
So far, no Egyptian Shi'ites have been accused of being members of the
Hizbullah network. Still, the sources said the Interior Ministry has been
pressuring community leaders to denounce Hizbullah.
"Definitely, we are Egyptians and our loyalty is to Egypt," Nafees said.
