Hizbullah Egypt Cell Chief Appears at Dahiyeh Rally

The head of a 22-member Hizbullah cell who escaped from an Egyptian prison during the Cairo uprising appeared on Wednesday at a televised rally organized by the party in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut.

Mohammed Youssef Mansour, alias Sami Shehab, was lauded as a "freed prisoner" and a "brother in our struggle" as he joined a group of Hizbullah officials at a gathering to mark the group's Martyrs' Day, television images showed.

The cell members fled on February 3 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.

Hizbullah, which has had strained ties with Cairo for decades, has praised Egyptians on their "historic victory" after president Hosni Mubarak's ouster this month.

The armed group -- which opposes the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel -- sparked the ire of Mubarak in late 2008 by accusing him of complicity with Israel during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian courts last year sentenced 26 people, four in absentia, for allegedly planning attacks in Egypt on behalf of Hizbullah, a move seen as retaliation for its criticism of Mubarak.

The arrests soured relations between predominantly Sunni Egypt and Shiite Hizbullah's backer Iran, with Cairo accusing Tehran of using the movement to gain a foothold in Egypt.