2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt

Failed terrorist attempt The 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt involved the arrest of 49 men by Egyptian authorities in the five months preceding April 2009. Egypt accused them of being Hezbollah agents planning attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in the Sinai Peninsula.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=101303 Egypt's Brotherhood backs Hizbullah in a spat with Cairo Andrew Wander The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon 11 July 2015 The arrests led to tensions between the Egyptian government and Hezbollah, as well as between Egypt and Iran.https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hUErcuTPwqqAVNnXhoqJ_upyxgHA AFP: Egypt summons Iran envoy over Hezbollah spat 2016-11-10 2009-04-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20090428175903/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hUErcuTPwqqAVNnXhoqJ_upyxgHA dead Tension had been high since Israel's Gaza War. Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah had accused Egypt of being a partner to the killing of Palestinians there, saying if it did not open the Rafah crossing it would be considered a "partner in the killing of Palestinians by the IDF."Nasrallah: Egypt accomplice in 'Gaza crime' Ynetnews 28 December 2008 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3646081,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090204070612/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3646081,00.html 2009-02-04 live 2009-06-17 Nahmias Roee The plot prompted the Egyptian government to officially designate Hezbollah a "terrorist group".EGYPT: Cairo calls Hezbollah terrorist organization. LA Times, April 13, 2009 Activities In Port Said, a cell was set up to monitor ship activity in the Suez Canal. The cell was to buy a boat as well as set up a fish shop in order to do this.The Daily Star - Politics - Egyptian media says Hizbullah cell planned bombings in Taba Wajdi BouKhaled <> http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=101337 https://web.archive.org/web/20110309145543/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=101337 2011-03-09 live 2009-06-17 Reports said the men had planned three major bomb attacks in Taba, popular with Israeli tourists, using explosive belts and car bombs.Loading... http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=16510 https://web.archive.org/web/20110707173001/http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=16510 2011-07-07 live 2009-06-17 Reaction Egyptian Egypt's reaction was hostile. President Hosni Mubarak issued a strong statement denouncing the Lebanese group and its supporters. "They [Hezbollah and Iran] aspire to impose their influence on our Arab world by introducing hostile elements into the region, in efforts to threaten Egypt's national security," Mubarak said. He added, "[W]e will uncover their plot; beware of Egypt's wrath."https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1080643.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090425123507/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1080643.html dead April 25, 2009 Mubarak to Hezbollah: Beware of Egypt's wrath Haaretz Service 23 April 2009 Haaretz.com 11 July 2015 In addition, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram claimed that Iran, Syria, and Qatar were working to overthrow the Egyptian government.https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1079210.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090423113529/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1079210.html dead April 23, 2009 Al-Ahram: Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah tried to overthrow Egypt's Mubarak Yoav Stern 19 April 2009 Haaretz.com 11 July 2015 Hezbollah Hezbollah said one of the men was indeed one of their operatives, but that he had been trying to smuggle weapons into Gaza for Hamas. The group said the terror plot claims were "fabricated" to "sully Hezbollah’s image" and that the allegations were retaliation for Hezbollah's comments during Operation Cast Lead.https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8000427.stm BBC NEWS - Middle East - Hezbollah alleges Egypt vendetta 15 April 2009 11 July 2015 Sudan A Sudanese official claimed rebel groups had collaborated with Hezbollah in smuggling weapons to Egypt. He condemned “any sabotage to a country’s sovereignty under any circumstances”.http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article30943 Sudan says rebels may have assisted Hezbollah in arms smuggling 11 July 2015 12 July 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150712202340/http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article30943 dead Convictions On April 28, 2010, 26 men were convicted by a State Security court of planning the attacks and given sentences from six months to life imprisonment. Four men were convicted in absentia.Egypt sentences 'Hezbollah cell' BBC, April 28, 2010. Escape In the midst of the 2011 Egyptian protests, the cell's ringleader and 21 other Hezbollah suspects escaped from the Wadi El Natrun prison north of Cairo. Some later appeared back in Beirut.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=124532#axzz1D0nS3S11 Hezbollah man escapes Egypt jail The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon 11 July 2015 See also 2004 Sinai bombings 2006 Dahab bombings References External links Hezbollah in Egypt: The Politics of Conspiracy and Resistance - The Jamestown Foundation bbc.co.uk haaretz.com Category:Terrorist incidents in Egypt in 2009 Category:Failed terrorist attempts in Asia Category:Failed terrorist attempts in Africa Category:Egypt–Iran relations Category:Egypt–Israel relations Category:Iran–Israel proxy conflict Category:Hezbollah–Israel conflict Category:Islamic terrorism in Egypt Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2009 Category:Hezbollah attacks Category:Egypt in the Arab–Israeli conflict Category:Terrorist incidents in the Sinai Peninsula