Cairo - Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained nine Bedouins in central Sinai accused of hiding members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a security source said.

Egyptian police also detained three Egyptians in Cairo accused of sending money to the Hamas movement in Gaza. The three were from the same family, a security source speaking on condition of anonymity told German press agency, dpa.

Security forces last week arrested a group of 25 people accused of spying for Hezbollah in Egypt.

An Egyptian prosecutor said that a total of around 49 members of an alleged Hezbollah cell, targeting Israelis and Egyptians, are being hunted.

Hezbollah has denied the allegations, saying that it was attempting only to help Hamas by sending weapons through Egypt and was not threatening the Egyptian security.

Hezbollah in turn has sharply criticized Egypt for failing to help Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Money and weapons are smuggled to Hamas through underground tunnels in the border city of Rafah.

Simultaneously with the arrests, Egyptian state-controlled newspapers have fiercely attacked Hezbollah.

The majority Sunni Egypt fears the spread of Shiite and Iranian influence in the Middle-East.(dpa )