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- 4 oct 2011
Israeli media: Grapel could be released in prisoner swap deal
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Talks of a prisoner swap for the release of Israeli spy Ilan Grapel surround a trip by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to Egypt amid fears of mass Egyptian anger should Grapel be released without a price being paid.
Israeli Radio quoted Egyptian sources as saying that the talks revolve around a tripartite deal including Egypt, the U.S., and Israel, for the release of Grapel, who has dual citizenship in Israel and the U.S., in return for dozens of Egyptian captives held in the U.S. and Israel prisons.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to land in Cairo Tuesday after his first official visit to Israel.
On Sunday, a diplomatic source in Egypt has denied reports that Grapel, who has now been held in Egyptian custody for four months, was handed over to Washington, as had been rumored by the media.
The sources told the Palestinian information center that Grapel remains behind bars and that his case has not been put to the diplomatic bodies in Egypt and that he could not be released without a decision from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces or the upcoming Egyptian Prime Minister.
He added that diplomatic efforts would begin only after such decision in the framework of a trade for Egyptian prisoners in Israel and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a high-profile Israeli security delegation landed in Egypt overnight Tuesday to assess the current circumstances enveloping the Israeli embassy in Cairo, which was stormed weeks ago by mass protests seeking to eject the diplomatic mission, Egyptian news outlets reported.
http://fwd4.me/0D6f
'Egypt eyes pro-Palestinian candidates'
A recent opinion poll suggests that Egyptians are inclined toward presidential hopefuls that have been critical of the Israeli regime and their policies against Palestinians.
Nearly 42 percent of a sample of 1,030 respondents of a Press TV survey conducted by Synovate, have expressed interest in Amr Moussa, former Egyptian foreign minister and general secretary of the Arab League, as the favorite presidential contender in a free election.
According to the poll, released Monday, only 13 percent of respondents favored the candidacy of Mohammed ElBaradei, a law scholar and the previous director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Both Moussa and ElBaradei have in the past criticized Israeli policies against Palestinians and in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, 15 percent of those polled said they would vote for Ahmed Shafiq, the former commander in the Egyptian air force and a politician that served as Prime Minister of Egypt from January 2011 to March 2011.
The poll also hints at a growing tendency toward Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The latest survey further illustrates an overwhelming opposition in Egypt against the country's gas deal with Israel as around three out of four respondents voted for the annulment of Cairo's gas contract with Tel Aviv.
Some 73 percent of the participants also believed that US President Barack Obama has failed to deliver on his pledge to reach out to the Muslim world and polish America's image in the Middle East.
The poll comes after Egyptian parties held a meeting in the capital Cairo recently to discuss Egypt's ruling military council's ratification on amending the nation's electoral law.
The council made the decision on Saturday following days of public protests demanding the speedy transfer of power to a civilian rule.
Opponents of Article 5 of the election law, which considers two-thirds of the seats for parties and the rest for independent candidates, fear that the article would help old regime figures return to the Egyptian parliament.
Cairo was the scene of angry protests in the past few days with the historic Liberation Square filled by people demanding an end to emergency laws and demanding a speedy transfer of power to civilian rule.
Police attacked hundreds of the protesters in the square on Saturday with shields and batons, arresting 10.
At least 846 people were killed during the Egyptian uprising that led to the eventual downfall of the US-backed Mubarak regime in February.
Most Egyptians are still skeptical about a rapid transition towards democracy and civilian rule despite reports of a presidential election in the North African country in 2012.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202688.html
Al-Ahram: Egypt to draft new Israel gas deal
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Egypt will soon finish drafting a new contract for gas exports to its neighbor Israel that includes a big increase in prices, a newspaper cited the petroleum minister as saying on Tuesday.
Gas supplies to Israel have been disrupted by a series of attacks on the pipeline in the Sinai border region by assailants believed to oppose the sale of gas to Israel.
The attacks became more frequent and supplies were halted after the overthrow of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Egypt's army-backed government, under popular pressure to toughen its stance towards Israel, has sought to renegotiate the terms of the gas deal, complaining that the previous agreement signed under Mubarak fixed prices below market rates.
"The final draft related to amending the prices for exporting natural gas to Israel will be completed soon. It will see a big increase in the price," newspaper Al-Ahram reported, citing Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab.
He said gas supplies to Israel were still suspended after the latest attack on the pipeline in Sinai in late September, Al-Ahram reported.
Egypt is also seeking to renegotiate prices of gas exports to Jordan, which have also been disrupted by the attacks.
Gunmen opened fire on a gas installation in the Sinai last week, before an explosion hit a pipeline.
It was the sixth such attack on the pipeline since Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. The pipeline carries gas through the Sinai and on to Jordan and Israel.
Egypt supplies 43 percent of Israel's natural gas and 40 percent of Israel's electricity comes from this source.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=425980
Pentagon chief in bid to defuse Egypt-Israel tensions
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) -- US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was headed to Cairo from Tel Aviv on Tuesday in an effort to defuse tensions between Egypt and Israel that have mounted since the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule.
Before flying out after a one-day visit to Israel, Panetta said he will seek to encourage both sides to ease friction over the Sinai and will ask Egypt's military rulers to release an alleged Israeli spy.
Ilan Grapel, a US-Israeli dual national, is accused of spying for Israel and has been in custody since June 12 but Israeli officials say it is all a mistake.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Monday, Panetta said he hoped Grapel would be released but did not say whether the accused would be freed during his visit to Cairo as reported by some media.
"There's really nothing I can say about the specifics of that," Panetta said.
"We have made our concerns known to the Egyptians about holding that individual," he said.
"We would hope that whether it happens with me, or whether it happens at some point in the future, that they do take steps to release that individual."
Grapel has been charged with being an agent of Israel's Mossad intelligence service and of sowing sectarian strife in Egypt during the uprising which ousted longtime US ally Mubarak in February after three decades in power.
Egypt said on Saturday it was considering releasing Grapel.
Relations between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a turbulent period since Mubarak's overthrow.
The end of the veteran strongman's rule has coincided with uprisings across the Arab world that could give greater voice to popular anger over Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
Panetta expressed concern that Israel was "increasingly isolated" in the diplomatic arena and needed to work to shore up its relations in the region, particularly with Egypt and Turkey.
Speaking to reporters before his arrival in Tel Aviv on Monday, Panetta said Israel and Egypt needed to engage "directly" to defuse problems in the Sinai peninsula.
Israel has said an attack on its south in August was mounted from the Egyptian territory and has expressed concern that a "security vacuum" has developed there since Mubarak's fall.
In Cairo, Panetta is also due to discuss Egypt's plans for elections and a transition to a civilian-led government in talks with Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.
The Pentagon chief planned to reassure Cairo of Washington's commitment to the two governments' longstanding security ties.
He will also "encourage the transitional government to take the necessary and irreversible steps to clear the way for democracy," said a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Panetta met Egyptian Foreign Minister Muhammed Amr last week in Washington.
After a day of meetings in Cairo, Panetta is due to fly to Brussels to meet NATO defense ministers who plan to discuss the allied air campaign in Libya and the war effort in Afghanistan.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=425931
4 mar 2012, 21:14 , Respect -
Maria 5 oct 2011
Panetta denies Cairo trip was aimed at prisoner swap
CAIRO, (PIC)-- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has denied that his trip to Cairo was essentially aimed at clinching a prisoner swap for Ilan Grapel, a suspected Israeli spy who was captured in Egypt.
Panetta said in a press conference on Tuesday he did not get directly involved in the matter after hearing talks of a prisoner trade-off while in Israel few days earlier.
However, he did say that he urged he Egyptian authorities to release Grapel while bringing the matter up during talks. But he said he believed the Egyptian government would handle the matter justly and take the prisoner’s health condition into account.
Separately, Egyptian oil minister Abdullah Ghurab said Egypt would drastically increase the price of natural gas exported to Israel after a pipeline supplying Israel has been blown up six times in the last few months.
Egypt supplies Israel with 43 percent of its natural gas, which is used to generate 40 percent of electricity consumed in the country.
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4 mar 2012, 21:15 , Respect -
Maria 6 oct 2011
Energy authority: Egypt to increase Gaza electricity
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Egyptian energy minister has approved a request from authorities in Gaza to increase the amount of electricity to meet the needs of villages near the border.
Hassan Younes will allow an increase from 17 to 22 megawatts, according to to the energy authority in Gaza, which praised the initiative as a first step in solving the energy crisis.
The authority also warned that shortages of up to 70 megawatts have occurred in the past, so there is more work to be done. But it thanked the Egyptian government and people for the increase.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426849
4 mar 2012, 21:15 , Respect -
Maria 9 oct 2011
Israelis visit Egypt for talks: Report
A group of four Israeli military officials has traveled to Cairo to hold talks with Egyptian authorities on regional developments and security issues, a report says.
The Egyptian al-Ahram quoted sources at the Cairo International Airport as saying that the Israelis, whose identity has not been revealed, arrived in the country on Sunday for a short visit.
The Israeli group apparently traveled to Egypt in order to discuss the situation in the Sinai Peninsula and security on the Egypt-Israel border.
Ties between Cairo and Tel Aviv deteriorated after the Egyptian revolution of January 25.
In August, six Egyptian border officers were killed in an attack by Israeli forces.
Egyptian protesters stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo in September and destroyed a part of a barricade wall around the building in the process. The Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, fled Cairo a few hours later.
Levanon, however, returned to Egypt a few days later.
This comes while the Egyptian demonstrators have repeatedly called for cutting ties with Israel and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/203692.html
4 mar 2012, 21:15 , Respect -
Maria 12 oct 2011
Egyptian security detain 5 Palestinians
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security forces detained five Palestinians who entered the country through Gaza tunnels to film a documentary, officials said Wednesday.
Egyptian authorities said five Palestinians, including a journalist, entered via tunnel in the Salad-Ad-Din area of Rafah in order to film a documentary about the border area.
They are being held for investigation, Egyptian security said. The Palestinians were not immediately identified.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=428711
Barak apologizes for deaths of Egyptian officers
Reuter picture
Following conclusion of joint inquiry into terror attack at Israel-Egypt border, defense minister issues official apology for deaths of border guard officers from IDF fire.
On the backdrop of reports on a possible breakthrough in a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday issued an apology to Cairo for the deaths of Egyptian border guard patrol officers from IDF fire during the terror attack in southern Israel in August.
Senior IDF and Egyptian military officials, headed by Commander of the IDF Planning Branch Major-General Amir Eshel held a joint inquiry into the incident, as agreed upon by Barak and Egyptian head of Supreme Military Council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
As part of the joint investigation, the officials analyzed the details of the August 18 event at the Egypt-Israel border, drawing lessons to improve security along the border and prevent future attacks. A blackout was imposed on the details of the probe.
Israel picture
Based on the findings of the investigation, the defense minister decided to issue an official apology in which he expressed regret over the deaths of the border patrol officers.
Eight Israelis were killed in the attack, perpetrated by terrorists who infiltrated into Israel from the Sinai Peninsula. After the deadly incident, the Defense Ministry did not issue an official apology for the deaths of five border guard patrol officers, who were shot by IDF forces deployed to the border area.
At the time, Barak said: "Israel regrets the deaths of the Egyptian officers during the attack at the border," but added that "the appropriate conclusions will be drawn according to the findings of the inquiry."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4134271,00.html
4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 16 oct 2011
'Israel seeks weak, undemocratic Egypt'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJRYlhQVM8
Israel seeks a weak and undemocratic government in Egypt that would benefit the regional interests of Tel Aviv, a political analyst tells Press TV.
“For obvious reasons, Israel would benefit from a weak Egypt. Egypt that is not democratic, because any democratic government in Egypt, no matter what political affiliation it has, whether it is Islamic, leftist or liberal, any real democratic patriotic government, would have to be against Israel,” Khaled Elshami told Press TV on Saturday.
The editor of al-Quds Daily went on to say that a new government in Egypt “would have to review the Camp David Accords and really work for the people and with the people, and Israel does not want that.”
“So a weak Egypt definitely serves the regional interests of Israel,” he added.
Elshami referred to a deadly incident in Cairo last week, in which 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed during clashes with Egyptian security forces.
“This is not the first time we have seen clashes [between] Copts and Muslims. We are not used to this kind of things in Egypt. Even under Mubarak there have been attacks, but we have never seen churches being burned,” he said.
“There are extremists in the Copts abroad, especially in the United States, who are well known to be connected to the Zionist lobby in Washington and these people of course would have lots of interests in blowing up any problem and encouraging extremists who are inside Egypt to create trouble and encourage confrontation,” Elshami further explained.
The political analyst pointed out that Egypt is not getting into a civil war, saying that Muslims and Copts have been “living in harmony in Egypt and this is not about to change.”
Elshami criticized the ruling military council in Egypt for its failure to manage the post-revolution period in a “satisfactory manner,” adding that the current government that “is supposed to be a revolutionary government has turned out to be just like any government under Mubarak.”
“I think we need a transition to civilian democratic authority in Egypt as soon as possible,” Elshami concluded.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/204919.html
Egypt mulls prisoner swap for Israeli 'spy'
CAIRO (AFP) -- Egypt is mulling its own prisoner exchange with Israel, swapping a US-Israeli joint national suspected of spying for Israel for 81 Egyptians detained in Israel, the state-owned daily Al-Ahram said Sunday.
Ilan Grapel, who has been in custody since June 12, has been accused of being an agent of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and of sowing sectarian strife and chaos in Egypt during the uprising which ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Israel has strongly denied the claims, insisting the whole thing was a mistake and accusing Egyptian authorities of "bizarre behavior."
Egypt mediated between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas to secure a deal under which more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006.
"All reports suggest that the Shalit deal will not be the only one concluded between Arabs and Israel in the coming days," Al-Ahram said.
It should "soon be followed by another deal, between Egypt and Israel, in which the spy Ilan Grapel ... will be released in return for all Egyptians held in Israeli prisons," the daily said.
There are 81 Egyptian prisoners, including three children, held in Israel, the majority facing criminal charges, including illegal entry to Israel, drug trafficking and arms possession.
Negotiations on an exchange are almost finished, the paper said.
"The success of the Egyptian mediation of the Shalit deal and Israel's formal apology to Egypt for the death of Egyptian soldiers killed on the border by Israeli fire, certainly cleared the road for making the Grapel deal."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=429778
4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 20 oct 2011
Egypt arrests Israeli national at border crossing
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities arrested a Palestinian citizen of Israel at the Egypt border Thursday, saying they discovered a weapon and large quantity of ammunition in his possession.
The Palestinian-Israeli, who was not otherwise identified, told Egyptian security forces he worked for an Israeli tourism company and was traveling with his wife to the northern Sinai city of Taba, officials said.
Forces discovered an American-made weapon when searching the man's car as he entered Egypt via the Taba border crossing near the southern town of Eilat, Egyptian security officials told Ma'an.
The suspect was detained when he failed to provide an adequate explanation for the weapon and ammunition, and has been transferred for investigation to facilities in southern Sinai, they said.
The arrest comes amid a breakdown in Israel-Egypt relations, although they have improved in recent days following Cairo's successful mediation of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Egypt is also considering swapping a US-Israeli joint national, suspected of spying for Israel, for 81 Egyptians detained in Israel, the state-owned daily Al-Ahram said Sunday.
Israel enjoyed close ties with deposed President Hosni Mubarak, brought down in February in a popular uprising. Relations have remained tense as Egypt struggles to maintain security in the Sinai.
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4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 22 oct 2011
Report: Egypt pushes Europe to talk to Hamas
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Egypt is working to establish communications between Hamas and European nations in the wake of their brokering of a prisoner swap deal between the Gaza rulers and Israel, Egyptian daily Al-Mesryoon said Thursday.
Officials hope to build on European contacts with Hamas during the swap negotiations, including by German and French mediators, to convince European states to deal with the faction governing Gaza, the report said.
Egypt wants Europeans to pressure Israel to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip as a result of talking to Hamas, the paper added. Israel tightened its siege on the coastal strip in 2006 after Gaza militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
When Shalit was returned on Tuesday under the Cairo-brokered deal, Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq said Israel agreed to lift the blockade as part of the agreement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431347
4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 23 oct 2011
Israeli ministry: Flow of natural gas from Egypt resumes
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- The flow of natural gas from Egypt to Israel has resumed after a cut of several months due to repeated militant attacks, Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry said on Sunday.
It said gas began to flow in reduced quantities on Thursday night to test the system, before a resumption of full levels.
Egypt's Sinai desert pipeline which connects to Israel has been attacked by militants six times this year, and an Israeli official said the state has not received gas through the pipeline since a bombing in July.
Egypt supplies 43 percent of Israel's natural gas, which generates 40 percent of Israeli electricity.
National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said in April that his country would have to find alternatives if the Egyptian gas exports did not resume.
The sale of gas to Israel, which signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, has always been controversial in the Arab world's most populous country.
According to a Cairo newspaper report in early October, Egypt is to substantially raise the price of its gas exports to Israel.
Egypt's Oil Minister Abdullah Ghurab said there would be "a large increase in the price" after a revision to be announced soon, the state-owned daily Al-Ahram reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431815
Egypt nabs Israeli for arms smuggling
Reports suggest Kfar Qara resident caught in possession of Kalashnikov, two rifles and ammunition in Taba border crossing.
Egyptian border guards arrested an Israeli citizen last week on suspicion he tried to smuggle weapons via the Taba border crossing. The Foreign Ministry is handling the situation.
According to Egyptian reports, the suspect, Muwad Nordin was caught in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle, two guns and other ammunition hidden in a wooden box.
It was also reported that the border guard soldiers became suspicious when they noticed the wooden box. Nordin, a Kfar Qara resident in his 30s, denied the charges claiming he worked as a driver in a transport company. He said he was meant to meet a colleague who worked in the tourism business who allegedly waited from him on the other side of the border.
Another report suggested that Nordin was asked to deliver the wooden box to a church in Sinai by a priest from Bethlehem who told him the box contained a cross. The priest explained he could not cross the border himself as he did not have the proper documentation.
The suspect's family gave a different version of the events. "We understand he bought items from Egypt and put them in his bag," one relative said. "When they searched the bus, weapons were found in his bag which someone must have planted there."
Meanwhile, reports are surfacing regarding the impending release of Ilan Grapel who is held in Egypt on espionage charges. On Saturday, al-Masry al-Youm reported that the Egyptian ambassador to Israel relayed the names of 81 prisoners to be freed by Israel in exchange for Grapel. According to the report, Ambassador Yasser Reda was appointed to coordinate the deal.
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4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 26 oct 2011
Egypt releases 6 Palestinians
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities on Tuesday released six Palestinians who had been detained for illegally entering Egypt without permits.
Palestinian sources told Ma'an that six men from Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza were returned to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing.
They were identified as
Ahmad al-Banna,
Shadi al-Qirm,
Iyad Mishal,
Adnan Muhsin,
Samir Arraj, and
Ahmad Bardaweil.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=432477
4 mar 2012, 21:39 , Respect -
Maria 27 oct 2011
Report: US to sell fighter jets to Egypt as part of Grapel deal
An Egyptian military source told Palestinian Ma'an news agency that the United States has agreed to sell F-16 fighter jets to Egypt as part of the prisoner exchange deal to release US-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel.
http://fwd4.me/0fih and update: http://fwd4.me/0fiu
Egyptians wait at border for Israel prisoner swap
By Tamim Elyan
TABA, Egypt (Reuters) -- Egyptians gathered at the border with Israel on Thursday awaiting the handover of prisoners to be exchanged for an American-Israeli man held by Egypt and accused of spying.
Israel will swap 25 jailed Egyptians for Ilan Grapel, 27, who was detained in Egypt in June on accusations he was out to recruit agents and monitor events in the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the United States.
Israel, whose relations with Egypt have been strained since the uprising, denied the charges.
The US-brokered exchange deal was reached shortly after a successful Egyptian-brokered swap between Israel and Hamas that freed captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Grapel is expected to be flown from Cairo to Tel Aviv, while the Egyptians, mostly from Sinai, are due to be released through the border crossing next to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba. The exchange is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
"We just want to see our brother. It is a good thing from Egypt to work on freeing them," said Mohamed el-Swarky, whose brother, Ashraf Abdallah, 18, is one of those to be released.
Smuggling
His family said he had been sentenced to three years in prison by Israel on charges of illegally crossing the border. They say he had lost his way. He has spent one year in jail.
Others in the area said many of the Egyptian prisoners to be released had been involved in smuggling, which is rife along Egypt's border with Israel and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Israel's Prisons Service said Abdallah had been jailed for drugs trafficking as well as "infiltration". The others on the release roster were held for similar offenses, including gun-running, but not for espionage or attacks on Israelis.
"Our happiness isn't complete. We want our third brother. They went (across) because of the hard conditions," said Youssef al-Atrash, who said two of his brothers were among those to be freed, while a third would stay in behind bars.
Many Bedouin in Sinai complain of neglect by the state. Sinai resorts such as Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, with their five-star hotels, are popular with tourists. But Bedouin say they are excluded from jobs there and have to scratch a frugal living, or turn to smuggling.
The Sinai Peninsula was captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and was handed back in the 1980s after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, the first such deal between an Arab state and Tel Aviv.
Israel said three of the Egyptian prisoners to be swapped were under 18. It called for additional steps to help free another Israeli, Oudeh Suleiman Tarabin, jailed by Egypt 11 years ago.
Grapel's mother said at the time of his arrest that her son, a law student in the United States, had been working for Saint Andrew's Refugee Services, a non-governmental organization, in Cairo.
Grapel emigrated to Israel in 2005 from New York and served in its military in the 2006 Lebanon war.
Over the years, Egypt has arrested a number of people accused of spying for Israel.
Israel flew its ambassador out of Egypt in September when the Israeli embassy was attacked by protesters angry at the killings of Egyptian border guards when Israeli troops pursued what is said were cross-border raiders in August.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=432884
4 mar 2012, 21:40 , Respect -
Maria 1 nov 2011
73 get suspended terms for Israel embassy attack
CAIRO (AFP) -- An Egyptian military court on Monday handed down six-month suspended jail sentences to 73 people accused of involvement in an attack on the Israeli embassy in September, a military source said.
Two other people were acquitted.
The September 9-10 attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo by a crowd angered by Israel's killing of Egyptian policemen on the border forced the evacuation of staff including ambassador Yitzhak Levanon.
Three people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded, including 300 policemen, in clashes between protesters and security forces outside the embassy.
Crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag.
It was the worst incident since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty Israel in 1979.
It was also the latest episode in worsening relations since the killing of six Egyptian policemen on their border as Israel hunted militants after a deadly attack in August.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=434249
4 mar 2012, 21:40 , Respect -
Maria 3 nov 2011
Egypt 'will not allow' new war on Gaza
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security officials have expressed concerns after recent violence in Gaza despite Cairo's efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Palestinian factions.
Security officials said Wednesday that Egypt "will not allow" a renewed Israeli operation against Gaza, in light of changes since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, seen as supportive of Israel.
The Egyptian people refuse to accept Israel's "wide scale aggression" and the military council and Egyptian security forces would not be able to prevent regular citizens from going toward the border, they said.
Separately, security officials have also said that two Palestinian rockets landed south of Rafah during the latest flare up in violence in which 12 members of Islamic Jihad's armed wing and an Israeli civilian died.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=434654
4 mar 2012, 21:40 , Respect -
Maria 10 nov 2011
Unknown persons blow up Egyptian gas pipeline which supplies Israel and Jordan
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Unknown persons, at an early hour of Thursday morning, blew up the Egyptian gas pipeline that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan. This is the seventh time the same pipeline gets blown up since last February.
Major General Saleh al-Masri, the chief of security of Sinai, said that initial investigation shows that a number of people, whose identities are not yet known, planted an explosive device on the pipe in the Mazar area about 60 km to the west of al-Arish city. The device was detonated by remote control, according to the security chief.
Masri said that this was the first time the saboteurs targeted an underground part of the pipeline at a depth of 2 meters, pointing out that they had to dig a big hole to reach the pipe and plant explosives.
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4 mar 2012, 21:40 , Respect -
Maria 11 nov 2011
Egypt detains 4 Palestinians in Rafah
EL-ARISH (Ma'an) -- Egyptian forces on Friday detained four Palestinians suspected of trying to enter Egypt through underground tunnels from Gaza, security sources said.
Egyptian security officials said three students and a merchant were seized exiting a tunnel in Rafah, a city straddling the Egypt-Gaza border.
They have been detained for questioning, the officials added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=435988