 CAIRO - Egyptian police have detained a man they say was transporting $2 million to north Sinai to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip to the Islamist group Hamas, security sources said on Saturday. The man, Hassan Mohamed Hassouna, was detained in Cairo along with his driver and eight-year-old son around a week ago, the sources said. The child was returned to his family in north Sinai after spending three days in detention, they added.
| The child was there to provide cover. |
The sources said Hassouna named three other men as accomplices during his interrogation.
| "I'll talk! I'll talk! Stop doing that!" |
Egypt is eager to show it is doing all it can to stop money or aid reaching Hamas. Egyptian authorities regularly stop Hamas officials from bringing large sums of money into Gaza.
In March, Egyptian security forces blocked two Hamas officials from entering the Islamist-run Gaza Strip with around $900,000 in cash, and in February they forced Hamas official Ayman Taha to deposit more than $11 million in cash in a bank in El Arish.
| Makes you wonder how much cash is getting through. Gaza still seems to have guns, ammo and groceries ... |
LebanonÂ’s Hezbollah said on Friday that Egyptian authorities had arrested a Hezbollah member who had been offering logistical help to Palestinians in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. |
