In a strange twist of events, Egypt and Hezbollah have recently been at odds with each other, following the discovery of Hezbollah plots to subvert the Egyptian government and possibly overthrow the Egyptian regime. The following links detail these developments:
- Egypt accuses Hezbollah of planning coup
- Egypt: Hezbollah and the Confrontation
- Cairo accuses Hezbollah of planning Egypt attacks
An interesting development to say the least. While Egypt and Hamas have a tense relationship, as seen in such things as their unwillingness to open the border crossings between themselves and the Gaza Strip and their general unwillingness to put any pressure on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza, now Egypt and Hezbollah appear to be in open conflict. While Egypt has never been a strong supporter of any radical Islamist group (even against Israel) due to its own internal difficulties with the Muslim Brotherhood, it never seems to have had open hostility with other groups.
It seems this could be for a variety of reasons. The first was mentioned above–the problems with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Egyptian government has always had problems with extremist Muslim groups, dating to the days of Nasser, and it could be that they think that showing any favoritism to such a group and allowing it to operate with Egyptian support would further encourage the Muslim Brotherhood.
On the other hand, this could be part of a larger Hezbollah gripe against Egypt. For a number of weeks now, they have had an ongoing argument, with Egypt calling Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a “monkey sheikh.” Hezbollah, meanwhile, has been smarting about Egypt’s lack of action during the recent war in Gaza, leveling considerable criticism at them. Thus, this could also been seen as Hezbollah potentially leveling the score with the Egyptians.
What this means for the future remains to be seen. Either way, it seems like a new chapter in the relationship between Egypt and the radical Islamist groups.
