Security Official: Egypt’s Hizbullah Cell Escaped in Prison Break

Members of the so-called Hizbullah cell convicted of plotting attacks in Egypt were among the escapees in a weekend prison break, a security official told Agence France Presse Thursday.

The 22 cell members fled on Sunday along with members of Palestinian group Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and thousands of other convicts during a mass breakout amid anti-government protests in Egypt.

The Hizbullah members escaped from Wadi Natrun north of Cairo after guards abandoned their posts.

Last April, a Cairo court handed down stiff prison sentences to 26 people in connection with a plot to carry out attacks on the Suez Canal and Sinai resorts. Four were sentenced in absentia.

In a handwritten letter obtained by AFP, the defendants -- most of whom had been detained between late 2008 and January 2009 -- said they never planned attacks in Egypt.

Hizbullah MPs rejected to comments to pan Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat about the rumors of the escape. “We have no details about this,” they said.

MP Emile Rahme, who is the lawyer of the Hizbullah cell’s leader Sami Shehab, told the newspaper that his “role is limited to the court.” He rejected to give further details that confirm the prison break.(AFP-Naharnet)