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18:19 GMT
CAIRO, April 8 (KUNA) -- Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP)
has started interrogating 49 persons accused of planning for hostile acts
against the country, Public Prosecutor Justice Abdulmajid Mahmoud announced on
Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters here, Justice Mahmoud said the security services have
sufficient evidence that the defendants belong to an organization financed by
Lebanese Hezbollah party.
"They were tasked with recruiting new members loyal to Hezbollah and
carrying out terrorist acts inside Egypt," he said, affirming that the
defendants have been trained on bomb-making and terror attacks.
"The new organization was tasked with launching commercial projects and
renting some real properties along the waterway of the Suez Canal to cover up
on their clandestine activities.
"It planned to track the vessels passing through this vital international
navigation route and tourist resorts and send information to be collected to
Hezbollah bases in Lebanon," he revealed, citing the results of preliminary
investigations.
"The security services spotted the activities of the group in North Sinai
and South Sinai governorates," he disclosed.
The SSSP investigations showed that the hostile activities, which involved
provision of large quantities of explosive charges, started after the speech
made by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrullah on January 12, on the
occasion of the Shiite holy occasion of Asoura'.
In his speech which coincided with the Israeli military offensive on Gaza
Strip, Nasullah tried to prod the Egyptian people and armed forces into
rebellion in protest against what he deemed Egypt's "inaction towards the
Israeli atrocities."
"After that speech Nasrullah tasked a senior official in Hezbollah with
preparing for militant operations inside Egypt," Justice Mahmoud pointed out.
Meanwhile, Justice Mahmoud affirmed that the security services will follow
the necessary legal measures in line with the penal code during investigations
with the defendants.
The Egyptian Bar Association has been notified of the start of the
prosecution process and the procedures of appointing defense layers and
slating dates of the trial, he added. (end)
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