Egyptian prisoners leave Israeli jail for swap

JERUSALEM?? Twenty-five Egyptians left a jail in southern Israel on Thursday and were being bused to the border with Egypt ahead of a swap for a U.S.-Israeli citizen jailed in Cairo on suspicion of espionage.

The arrest of 27-year-old Ilan Grapel in Egypt in June set off new concerns in Israel that relations with the Egyptians would sour after the ouster of their longtime president, Hosni Mubarak.

The swap deal was expected to help ease the strains that have developed between the two countries since Mubarak was toppled in February.

Grapel's father, Daniel Grapel, told The Associated Press that his son had been held in isolation in an unknown location and that when they last spoke two weeks ago, he seemed to be in "OK" condition and "getting fed."

"I am happy that this thing will be done and over with and that he will be able to resume his normal life away from Egypt," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Queens, N.Y.

Under a swap deal reached earlier this week, his U.S.-born son was to board a plane in Cairo later Thursday and fly to Israel.

Daniel Grapel said his wife, Irene, flew to Tel Aviv to meet their son. They will remain in Israel for at least two days to meet with Israeli and American officials before returning to the U.S., he said.

The United States, which provides the army that now runs Egypt with billions of dollars in military aid, had called for Grapel's release.

Analysts said the exchange provided a cover for Egypt to resolve the diplomatic headache.

"I consider it a cover for returning this spy with pressure from the United States," said Egyptian analyst Hassan Nafaa.

"The release of those 25 represents a cover that has no meaning in fact. It does not harm Israel and it does not significantly benefit Egyptians," he added.

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Legal aid volunteer
Grapel was volunteering at a legal aid group in Cairo when he was arrested June 12 and accused of spying for Israel during the grass roots revolt that overthrew Mubarak. Israel denied the espionage allegations, as did Grapel's family and friends.

Grapel made no secret of his Israeli background and entered Egypt under his real name.

His Facebook page had photos of him in an Israeli military uniform. Such openness about his identity suggested he was not a spy. The arrest was ridiculed even in Egypt, where hostility toward Israel runs high.

Grapel moved to Israel, where his grandparents live, as a young man. He did his compulsory military service in Israel during its 2006 war in Lebanon and was wounded in the fighting. He later returned to the U.S. to study.

At the time of his arrest he was doing a legal internship with a local nonprofit organization in Cairo and planned afterward to return to the U.S. for his final year of law school.

Some Israelis have criticized their government for making a deal to free a citizen arrested in a friendly nation on what they think were trumped-up allegations.

"It is ... hard for me to accept the fact that an innocent and perhaps naive citizen travels (to Egypt) to identify with the Arab Spring ? and it's clear this is not a spy, nor an agent, nor a drug trafficker ? and he is arrested under all kinds of false allegations, and we are then forced to pay a price in order to free him," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio.

'A good thing'
The family of Ashraf Abdallah, 18, one of the Egyptians to be released, 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.

"We just want to see our brother. It is a good thing from Egypt to work on freeing them," his brother Mohamed el-Swarky said.

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 offences, 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 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.

Since Mubarak was toppled, Egypt's military rulers have often warned against what they call "foreign" attempts to destabilize the country. And like other Arab states, Egypt has a long history of blaming internal problems on Israel.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45060714/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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