Egypt/Hizbullah Feud Heating Up

Open feuding between Egypt and Hizbullah has been escalating since Friday, when Hizbullah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrullah openly acknowledged that one of the people arrested by Egypt last week is indeed a Hizbullah agent, while denying that Hizbullah intended to act inside Egypt. Hizbullah always denies carrying out operations outside Lebanon, except those aimed at Israel; he insisted that the agent was in Sinai to help smuggle arms into Gaza, not to strike at Egyptian interests.

This has sparked strong reactions in the Egyptian media and leadership, since it is being seen as flouting Egyptian sovereignty. Admittedly this report of the investigations to date does suggest that the plot was aimed at smuggling arms to Gaza, but Egypt is protesting a violation of its sovereignty.

Part of the surprise here — actually a clever tactical move — is that Nasrullah did not offer the usual flat denial of involvement, but portrayed Hizbullah as trying to relieve the siege of Gaza, thus reminding the world that Egypt's keeping the Rafah crossing closed is as much responsible for Gaza's suffering as Israel's closure of the other crossings. Popular opinion inside Egypt has generally been critical of the government's policies on Gaza, and Hizbullah is playing to that.

Of course, there's a certain disingenuousness to Hizbullah claiming it does not carry out operations in other countries and admitting that it had agents operating in Sinai. But by ratioalizing their presence rather than denying it, Nasrullah subtly shifts the debate from one of violating Egyptian sovereignty to one of spotlighting Egypt's keeping Rafah closed.

And Nasrullah has also won some support from Mahdi ‘Akef, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has denounced the Egyptian media campaign.

Egypt is also saying that the Hizbullah plotters were planning to attack Israeli tourists in Sinai, and in fact, an Israeli tourist has received stab wounds on a visit to Sinai as if to verify the claim; Egypt is also said to be looking for 13 more plotters in Sinai.

Husni Mubarak has proclaimed that Egypt will defend its borders and its sovereignty. At this point Egypt is evoking the traditional Egyptian protective reaction to perceived incursions on its sovereignty , a sensitivity dating to resentment of British colonial interference. Nasrullah, on the other hand, is playing an entirely different hand, even a different game, in trying to shift the debate from his agents being caught to the question of Gaza and Egypt's role in its ongoing siege.

Who wins this clash of narratives remains to be seen, but by directly challenging Egypt, Hizbullah seems to be reaching beyond its usual area of operations. Whether this is an overreach, though, remains to be seen.