Naharnet

Israel’s Envoy Back in Cairo after Embassy Attack

Israel's ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, returned to Cairo on Sunday after he was evacuated in September following an attack on the embassy, an airport official told Agence France Presse.

"Levanon arrived in the early hours of Sunday on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul," the official said.

"The ambassador's arrival had not been announced and he flew in in complete secrecy," the official said.

On September 9, protesters attacked the Israeli embassy headquarters in a residential building in central Cairo, forcing the evacuation of all embassy staff.

Crowds had 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 with the Jewish state in 1979.

It had also been the latest episode in worsening relations between Egypt and Israel since the killing of six Egyptian policemen on their common border as Israel hunted militants after a deadly attack.

In September, officials from the Israeli embassy in Cairo made a short trip to Egypt to assess damage at the mission headquarters.

Sources said the trip had been made to find a new location for the embassy.

Source: Agence France Presse


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