BEIRUT, 7 December 2002 — Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement staunchly denied yesterday Israeli allegations that it has links to Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network Al-Qaeda. “The allegations made by (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon did not surprise us because they are accusations repeatedly made by Israeli officials,” Hezbollah said in a statement received by AFP in Beirut. “We remind international public opinion that we had underscored on several occasions that Al-Qaeda does not exist in Lebanon and that there are no links between Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda,” the statement said. The group stressed that the allegations were part of a “plan by the Israeli military and security services that has been implemented since the Sept. 11 (2001) attacks that accompany the American offensive against Arabs and Muslims”. And it charged that Sharon’s allegations “conceal aggressive intentions against Lebanon”. On Thursday Sharon said his government had recently received intelligence that “a few Al-Qaeda members have infiltrated the Gaza Strip and that others are in Lebanon, where they are collaborating closely with Hezbollah”. (AFP)
