Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, has rejected Egyptian claims that his group is involved in planning attacks aimed at destablising the country.

Nasrallah did, however, acknowledge on Friday that one of 49 people detained in Egypt was a member of the Lebanese group.

"The brother Sami Shihab is a member of Hezbollah," he said in a televised address.

"We do not deny it and we are not ashamed of it."

The 49 suspects are also accused of espionage, forging official documents and preparing explosives.

"All the accusations are lies and a fabrication aimed at setting the people of Egypt against Hezbollah," he said.

On Thursday, Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the accused to be kept in custody for another 15 days for further questioning.

'Logistical mission'

Nasrallah said Shihab, a Lebanese citizen, was in Egypt on a "logistical mission" related to the Gaza Strip.

"What he was doing [in Egypt] was a logistical job to help Palestinians get [military] equipment.

Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, said" "Hezbollah has never denied that it supports the resistance in Gaza.

"It sees it as a duty for all Arab countries to support Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups in Gaza in order to resist Israeli occupation. For Hezbollah, it would not be a shameful thing to smuggle money and weapons to Gaza."

Hezbollah, which is backed by Egypt's regional rivals Iran and Syria, is a staunch supporter of Hamas, the Palestinian group ruling Gaza, and has lashed out at Egypt for closing its crossing with the Palestinian enclave.

Nasrallah criticised the Egyptian government for not doing more to stop Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians before a unilateral ceasefire was declared in January.