Egypt is on high alert after an attack by hundreds of protesters on the Israeli embassy in Cairo left three people dead and hundreds injured.
The Israeli ambassador and other diplomatic staff were forced to flee the country after the attack in which petrol bombs were met with tear gas from the security services as demonstrators stormed the embassy, throwing documents from the windows and burning Israel's flag.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called the mob attack a "serious incident" and an unnamed official warned it was a "painful blow to peace" between Egypt and the Jewish state.
In the night-time attack, protesters lit tyres in the street and at least two vehicles were set alight near the embassy, located on the upper floors of a residential apartment block overlooking the Nile.
As dawn broke, about 500 demonstrators remained and a few threw stones at police and army vehicles and personnel. But police gradually pushed them further 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 during an Israeli operation against gunmen.
Barack Obama, the US President, asked Egypt to protect the embassy, and Alain Juppe, France's foreign minister, expressed concern over Egyptian-Israeli ties.
President Obama spoke to Mr Netanyahu by phone and expressed "great concern about the situation at the embassy, and the security of the Israelis serving there," the White House said.
The Israeli official said Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, other staff and dependants had all left Egypt but a senior diplomat remained behind.
"We left the deputy ambassador to keep up contact with the Egyptian government," the official told AFP in Jerusalem on condition of anonymity.
He said six embassy staff were led to safety by Egyptian commandos.
"It was a painful blow to the peace between us and a grave violation of diplomatic norms," the official said.
The embassy attack was the worst since Israel established its mission in Egypt after becoming the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979. Jordan followed suit in 1994.
Mansur al-Eissawy, Egypt's interior minister, declared a state of high alert, cancelling all police leave, while Essam Sharaf, the prime minister, called an emergency cabinet meeting.
The attack came as about 1,000 protesters marched from Tahrir Square where thousands had gathered on Friday to press Egypt's military rulers to keep promises of reform after the revolt in January and February led to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak.
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news
President Obama spoke to Mr Netanyahu by phone and expressed "great concern about the situation at the embassy, and the security of the Israelis serving there," the White House said.
The Israeli official said Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, other staff and dependants had all left Egypt but a senior diplomat remained behind.
"We left the deputy ambassador to keep up contact with the Egyptian government," the official told AFP in Jerusalem on condition of anonymity. He said six embassy staff were led to safety by Egyptian commandos.
"It was a painful blow to the peace between us and a grave violation of diplomatic norms," the official said.
The embassy attack was the worst since Israel established its mission in Egypt after becoming the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979. Jordan followed suit in 1994.
Mansur al-Eissawy, Egypt's interior minister, declared a state of high alert, cancelling all police leave, while Essam Sharaf, the prime minister, called an emergency cabinet meeting.
The attack came as about 1,000 protesters marched from Tahrir Square where thousands had gathered on Friday to press Egypt's military rulers to keep promises of reform after the revolt in January and February led to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak.
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news
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