Egypt joins Israel in anti-Hezbollah campaign

Egypt is mulling over building a case against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in line with an Israeli campaign launched against the movement. Egyptian lawmakers and legal experts have called for an arrest warrant for the Lebanese movement's leader, accusing him of "encouraging terror activities in an attempt to destabilize the [Egyptian] state," the Saudi-based Al Arabiya television network reported Sunday. The parliamentarians called to include Nasrallah's case in the indictment expected to be served against 49 people arrested in Egypt several days ago over suspicion of "arms smuggling" into the country. The announcement came hours after Israel threatened to assassinate the Hezbollah leader who has been a "marked man since the Lebanon war" in the summer of 2006. Israel which failed to achieve its goals to destroy the resistance group during the 33-day war in southern Lebanon, has long been threatening the movement on a regular basis. Israel's Transport Minister Yisrael Katz, a close aid to the new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that "Nasrallah deserves death and I hope that those who know what to do with him (in Israel) will act and give him what he deserves." Tel Aviv launched the campaign late last week after Cairo alleged that those arrested were planning terror acts against Israeli targets in Egypt. The Hezbollah leader however denied the allegations that the movement plans to destabilize the Egyptian security.