Global General

Egypt extends detention of alleged Israeli spy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-25 21:27

Ilan Grapel (R), a US immigrant to Israel, is visited by friends as he recovers in a hospital bed in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, in this August 2, 2006 file photo, after he was wounded fighting for Israel in the 2006 war with Lebanon. [Photo/Agencies]

CAIRO - Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution decided on Saturday to extend the detention of a suspected Israeli spy for further 15 days on charges of spying and damaging national security.

The decision was made by prosecutor Hisham Badawi to keep Ilan Grapel in custody for the needs of investigation.

Egyptian security authorities believe Ilan Grapel, a US-Israeli dual citizen, is an Israeli Mossad agent, and arrested him in a hotel at downtown Cairo on June 12.

He has been questioned over charges of spying on Egypt with the aim of harming its economic and political interests.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman strongly dismissed the charges from Cairo two day after the man was arrested.

He was also accused of sowing sectarian strife and chaos during and after the massive anti-regime protests and recruiting Egyptian young people to acquire information that relates to the country's political, economic and social situation after the political turmoil.

Egyptian security service has submitted to the Supreme State Security Court evidences that can prove involvement of Grapel in some major events Egypt has witnessed in the past months, according to state media.

Security authorities have got photographs of Grapel in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the 18-day demonstration and in the recent sectarian strife events erupted at the Imbaba neighborhood.

Initial investigation showed that Grapel introduced himself to the youth activists and Imbaba Christians as a Western journalist.