Israel clears out its ransacked Cairo embassy
Two planeloads of documents and equipment flown out; embassy has been closed since September
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian airport officials say Israel has cleared out its embassy in Egypt, six months after its offices were attacked and ransacked by protesters.
The officials say two Israeli military planes left Cairo before sunrise on Wednesday, loaded with documents and equipment removed from the embassy. They say the Israeli ambassador and staff also left.
An Israel diplomat says the embassy had not been in use since September, when protesters broke into one of its lower floors and dumped documents out of the windows.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information.
Lawmakers in Egypt’s new Islamist-dominated parliament last week called for expelling Israel’s ambassador and a review of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Israel’s new ambassador to Egypt, Yaacov Amitai, presented his credentials late last month to the leader of the country’s military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. Amitai has been working from his home in the outskirts of Cairo.
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