Britannia Radio

Egypt Warns of Mideast Summer War

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:09 AM

JERUSALEM - Egypt has issued a stark warning of a summer war between Israel and Lebanon. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit passed on messages to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives of the other permanent UN Security Council members, warning that the current Israel-Lebanon tensions could deteriorate into an armed conflict, Israel Radio reported on Tuesday. Meanwhile, according to the radio station, Egyptian diplomats denied reports that Aboul Gheit had called Israel an enemy state in Beirut on Monday. They stressed that the foreign minister had said it was Lebanon that considered Israel an enemy state, not Egypt. The latest tensions between Israel and Lebanon arose after reports surfaced in Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper that Syria had transferred Scud ballistic missiles to Hizbullah. Israel subsequently issued a stern warning that it would consider attacking both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response to a Scud attack on its territory. Lebanon’s Western-backed Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri denied the allegations, comparing them to the American charges that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction ahead of the 2003 US-led invasion. However, the chairwoman of the US Senate’s Intelligence Committee warned that there was a “high likelihood” that Hizbullah had acquired Scuds. Clinton has said the Obama administration is still committed to improving ties with Syria, despite its "deeply troubling" moves to aid Hizbullah