BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah's deputy chief said on Wednesday that Egyptian accusations against the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement were baseless and part of a political ploy to discredit the movement.

“It has become clear to everyone that these accusations are fabricated... and that they are worthless,” Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an exclusive interview.
“The Egyptian regime wants revenge and is seeking to sully Hezbollah's image”, he added. “This whole thing is politically motivated and will result in a backlash against the Egyptian regime.”
Qassem confirmed that one of the men arrested was a Hezbollah operative but stressed that his mission was solely to provide assistance to Palestinian Islamic resistance fighters in Gaza.
“We have one enemy called Israel and as far as we are concerned Egypt is not an enemy,” he said. “Egypt's accusations are in revenge for our position on Gaza and our demand that the Rafah border crossing be opened.”
Hezbollah is a vocal supporter of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, and has lashed out at Egypt for closing its border crossing with the Palestinian enclave.-