Cairo, April 28: Egypt has urged the US to prevent another Israeli war on Lebanon, warning about the consequences of any military action.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has underlined the importance of the role that the United States should play to avoid hostilities, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Husam Zaki said on Tuesday.
In a message to his US counterpart Hillary Clinton, Aboul Gheit added that Lebanon would have to pay dearly for such a war of aggression launched by the Israelis, the Lebanese portal Naharnet reported.
The US and Israel say Syria supplies the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah with Russian-made Scud missiles.
Earlier in the month, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, “If [Scuds have been transferred into Lebanon], and we continue to analyze this issue… clearly it potentially puts Lebanon at significant risk.”
In a series of provocative actions, Israel recently sent its forces into Lebanon’s border town of Abbassiyeh, fired flares over southern parts of the country, and carried out aerial violations of Lebanese airspace.
In his message, the Egyptian foreign minister also told Clinton about “the anxiety that many Lebanese feel about… the increasingly warmongering tone in the media, which presages a looming threat,” DPA reported.
Hezbollah drove the Israelis out of south Lebanon in 2000 and fought a war against them in 2006. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in the 33-Day War of 2006.
Damascus, Beirut, and Hezbollah itself have rejected the claims about arms transfers.
The Egyptian foreign minister also ridiculed the allegations on Saturday.
“These allegations are lies and are laughable,” he had said, adding, “Egypt stands by Lebanon under all conditions and in the face of all threats,” AFP reported.
——-Agencies