Global General

Israel denies man held in Egypt is a spy

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-14 15:07

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]

JERUSALEM - Israel's foreign minister says a US-born Israeli arrested in Egypt is not a spy.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio on Tuesday that 27-year-old Ilan Grapel "has no connection to any intelligence agency, not in Israel, not in the US and not on Mars."

Lieberman described Grapel's detention as a "mistake, or bizarre behavior, on the part of the Egyptians" and said he hoped "this saga will end as soon as possible." He added that Israel has sent all clarifications to Egypt.

Grapel's family and friends have said he is a law student in Atlanta with an avid interest in the Mideast - not a Mossad agent out to sabotage Egypt's revolution, as Egyptian authorities claim.

Grapel was arrested Sunday at a hotel in Cairo, where he was working for a legal aid group.