Gamal Essam El-Din speaks with Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid about the recent escalation in tensions between Egypt and the Lebanese-based Shia party, frosty relations with Syria and Qatar and persistent rumours that the People's Assembly is about to be dissolved Moufid was appointed minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs at the beginning of 2006. In the same year he was also made the ruling National Democratic Party's assistant secretary-general for syndicate affairs. has enjoyed a long and varied academic, political and diplomatic career. He headed Egypt's negotiating team during the international arbitration that in 1984 secured the return of Taba from Israel. President Hosni Mubarak selected him to lead the Egyptian delegation to the 2008 Arab Summit in Damascus and last month's Arab Summit in Doha. More recently addressed the People's Assembly and Shura Council on the political and legal ramifications of the uncovering two weeks ago of a Hizbullah cell operating on Egyptian territory. What are the latest developments in the case of the Hizbullah plot? I think interrogators are currently wrapping up their investigations. In a few days we expect Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud to receive a report containing the final results of the investigation. The next step will be to refer the suspects to the courts. What kind of court? This is up to Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud to decide. I suspect the case will be referred to the Supreme State Security Court created under the emergency laws in October 1981. Preliminary investigations confirm that the Hizbullah terror cell intended to launch subversive acts in Egypt. To this end, the cell rented a number of apartments in buildings overlooking the Suez Canal to monitor shipping and on the Egyptian-Palestinian border to smuggle weapons into Gaza. A number of operatives have admitted that Hizbullah was planning to carry out acts of sabotage in Egypt. Article one of the Egyptian penal code states that it applies to all crimes on Egyptian territory regardless of the nationality of the perpetrators. To activate a cell here was a big gamble on the part of Nasrallah and his party. Some MPs have demanded an arrest warrant be issued in the name of the leader of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah. Others have called for Nasrallah to be tried in absentia before the International Criminal Court and, if found guilty, for Interpol to secure his arrest. How do you view such demands? They would apply if states, rather than individuals, were found to have carried out subversive acts on Egyptian soil. Hizbullah is an organised party and its operatives in Egypt aimed to undermine Egypt's national security. In a televised speech on 10 April Nasrallah admitted that Sami was a member of Hizbullah and that he had been operating a ring of 10 operatives on Egyptian soil. This means that the cell's operatives are subject to prosecution under Article 86 of Egypt's penal code. Does Nasrallah's televised admission leave him open to possible prosecution? Article 86 of the penal code covers both the perpetrator of any crime and his or her accomplices. Accomplices can either have incited the crime or offered practical help. Perpetrators and accomplices bear equal responsibility under Article 86 and both can face capital punishment. Could you tell us more about the charges which the Hizbullah network in Egypt will face? Members of this network could face a list of charges. They include operating a spy ring in Egypt in the interests of a foreign organisation, i.e. the Lebanese-based party of Hizbullah; providing this organisation with classified information and receiving military and financial assistance from a foreign organisation. They might also face charges of entering Egypt using forged documents. What kind of sentences can be expected? Under Article 86 anyone convicted of such charges, which include plotting terrorist acts, could face life imprisonment or the death sentence. Hizbullah alleges that as an organisation its exclusive aim is to fight the Israeli occupation in South Lebanon and that it has the right to acquire arms, weapons, artillery and explosives to achieve its goals. Hizbullah also alleges that its operations are limited to south Lebanon and fighting Israel. Nasrallah's televised admission, however, clearly shows that the group took a decision that violated Egyptian sovereignty and that it was seeking to use Egyptian land to further its conspiracies and plots. This leaves members of the Hizbullah network in Egypt open to possible capital sentences. Will the uncovering of the Hizbullah network affect government plans to implement President Hosni Mubarak's 2005 presidential campaign promise to replace the 28-year-old law of emergency with anti-terror legislation? The Hizbullah cell will face prosecution under the Egyptian penal code. The expected anti-terror law is still in the preparation stage. We are not in a hurry to rush it through. President Mubarak himself said in 2005 that the anti-terror law should be the result of careful study and discussion. Since it aims to replace the emergency law its final form should be without legislative loopholes. Since 1981 the emergency law has proved very successful in uprooting terrorist crimes in Egypt. The government has always been keen that it is applied only to fighting terror and drug-trafficking crimes without violating human rights. Do you think uncovering the Hizbullah cell will negatively affect relations between Egypt and Lebanon? I hope not. Most Lebanese politicians expressed their regret, arguing that Hizbullah should not use its resistance role as an excuse to breach the sovereignty of another state. Some Lebanese politicians also called on Egypt to mend fences with Hizbullah in a friendly manner... And in response President Mubarak said the law will have the final say in resolving the case. We are in contact with Lebanese politicians through all the usual diplomatic and political channels. The prime minister of Lebanon, Fouad Al-Siniora, recently phoned President Mubarak asking that a copy of the results of the investigation be made available to the Lebanese authorities. Al-Siniora strongly condemned Lebanese nationals seeking to perpetrate crimes in Egypt. Nasrallah claimed the cell planned operations in Egypt that would be of help to the Palestinian resistance during the war on Gaza. He also accused Egypt of helping impose a siege on the Palestinians. How do you respond? Whatever the supposed ends they cannot justify compromising Egypt's sovereignty. The Hizbullah cell is part of a larger scenario in which many other organisations and countries are seeking to tarnish Egypt's international reputation and force it to breach its peace treaty with Israel. In a speech during the war Nasrallah urged the Egyptian army and people to overthrow the regime and open the Rafah crossing. How do you see Egypt's relations with Syria and the Gulf state of Qatar following the Doha summit in March? It is unfortunate that Qatar has adopted such an aggressive stance towards Egypt. In the speech I delivered on behalf of President Mubarak during the opening of the summit I announced that Egypt would never ignore attempts to defame its image, work against its interests or undermine its regional role. As far as Syria is concerned, relations are good on the economic level but remain cool on the diplomatic and political front. There have been repeated rumours that Iran has been encouraging Hizbullah to undermine Egypt's national security... Iran makes no secret of the fact it is Hizbullah's main sponsor. Any Iranian role, however, is not within the mandate of the investigation into Hizbullah's Egyptian cell. Do recent rumours that the People's Assembly will be dissolved at the end of its current session next June have any basis in fact? I have no information about the matter. The decision is solely the president's. Article 136 of the amended constitution states clearly that 'the President shall not dissolve the People's Assembly unless it is necessary and until after a referendum is put to the public'. I do not see any necessity at the present time. Elections for both the People's Assembly and Shura Council are due in 2010. Let me emphasise again, it is the president who makes the decision in this matter. What legislation is due to be discussed by the assembly? We have just two months before the session closes in the second week of June. During the remaining weeks laws regulating the generation of nuclear power, telecommunication crimes and the theft of antiquities are expected to be discussed. There will in addition be items covering the stock exchange and personal status issues.
