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Israeli ambassador flees Cairo after embassy attack
Source: Agencies |
September 11, 2011, Sunday
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ISRAEL flew its ambassador home from Cairo yesterday after protesters stormed its embassy building, plunging Egypt's military rulers into their worst diplomatic crisis since they took over from Hosni Mubarak.
Three people were killed and 1,049 wounded in clashes between protesters and police, the Health Ministry said.
The United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, urged Cairo to protect the embassy after protesters hurled embassy documents and the Israeli flag from windows.
"Our dignity has been restored," said Mohi Alaa, 24, a protester who was speaking near the site of overnight clashes with police around the building that houses the Israeli embassy. Bits of concrete and bullet casings were strewn over the street.
"We don't want the Americans' money," he said, reflecting a growing readiness among many Egyptians to express anger at Israel and the United States over Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, after decades of pragmatic official relations.
Police had fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd. Protesters had lit tires in the street and at least two vehicles were set alight near the embassy, located on the upper floors of a residential block overlooking the Nile.
One of the three who died was in the nearby Agouza hospital, where a Reuters reporter saw a corpse with a punctured chest.
Some 500 protesters stayed after dawn and a few threw stones at police, who gradually pushed them away and secured the area.
It was the second big eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month when Israel repelled cross-border raiders it said were Palestinians. Egypt then briefly threatened to withdraw its envoy to Israel.
No apology
Israel has stopped short of apologizing, saying it is still investigating the Egyptian deaths, which occurred during an operation against gunmen who had killed eight Israelis.
Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, staff and family members arrived home yesterday, but one diplomat stayed in Egypt to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said.
State television said Prime Minister Essam Sharaf headed an emergency ministerial crisis meeting and then went to see Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mubarak resigned on February 11. It said the military concuil rejected Sharaf's offer to resigned.
Israel is finding itself increasingly at odds with formerly sympathetic states in the region. It is already embroiled in a feud with Turkey, once the closest of its few Muslim allies, over its treatment of the Palestinians.
Egypt's generals, under pressure to hand power to civilians more swiftly, must balance public calls for a more assertive foreign policy toward Israel with maintaining ties that bring cash and top-notch US military equipment.
Three people were killed and 1,049 wounded in clashes between protesters and police, the Health Ministry said.
The United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, urged Cairo to protect the embassy after protesters hurled embassy documents and the Israeli flag from windows.
"Our dignity has been restored," said Mohi Alaa, 24, a protester who was speaking near the site of overnight clashes with police around the building that houses the Israeli embassy. Bits of concrete and bullet casings were strewn over the street.
"We don't want the Americans' money," he said, reflecting a growing readiness among many Egyptians to express anger at Israel and the United States over Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, after decades of pragmatic official relations.
Police had fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd. Protesters had lit tires in the street and at least two vehicles were set alight near the embassy, located on the upper floors of a residential block overlooking the Nile.
One of the three who died was in the nearby Agouza hospital, where a Reuters reporter saw a corpse with a punctured chest.
Some 500 protesters stayed after dawn and a few threw stones at police, who gradually pushed them away and secured the area.
It was the second big eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month when Israel repelled cross-border raiders it said were Palestinians. Egypt then briefly threatened to withdraw its envoy to Israel.
No apology
Israel has stopped short of apologizing, saying it is still investigating the Egyptian deaths, which occurred during an operation against gunmen who had killed eight Israelis.
Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, staff and family members arrived home yesterday, but one diplomat stayed in Egypt to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said.
State television said Prime Minister Essam Sharaf headed an emergency ministerial crisis meeting and then went to see Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mubarak resigned on February 11. It said the military concuil rejected Sharaf's offer to resigned.
Israel is finding itself increasingly at odds with formerly sympathetic states in the region. It is already embroiled in a feud with Turkey, once the closest of its few Muslim allies, over its treatment of the Palestinians.
Egypt's generals, under pressure to hand power to civilians more swiftly, must balance public calls for a more assertive foreign policy toward Israel with maintaining ties that bring cash and top-notch US military equipment.
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