Lebanese singer Haifa Wahbi, the biggest sex symbol in the Arab pop scene, has vehemently denied that the militia group Hizbollah has turned down her request to join women activists planning to sail for Gaza in an aid ship named Mariam after the Virgin Mary. Press reports claimed that Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has refused to let Haifa board the ship because of her improper dress code, unbecoming behaviour and sexually suggestive songs. However, Haifa, says that this is utter nonsense, because she's never asked or sought to join women activists planning to sail to Gaza. "Even Hizbollah has denied these reports, promptly issued an official statement dismissing them as baseless," the 35-year-old model-turned-singer told the Egyptian website Al-Youm Al-Sabae. Haifa also stresses that Hizbollah would not object to her joining in any move to ease the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by providing them with medical supplies and other humanitarian aid. Haifa, a striking brunette married to an Egyptian business tycoon, says she could send aid to the besieged Palestinians via Egypt's Rafah border crossing, which opened earlier this month after a deadly raid by Israeli commandos on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza, which has been suffering from a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007. Haifa is a self-professed fan of Hassan Nasrallah. On moral grounds, some more conservative Arab countries are highly critical of Haifa, who has found fame with music videos that feature saucy songs that have proved controversial and even provoked outrage.
