Netanyahu says Egypt peace stands

10 September 2011 Last updated at 14:06 ET

Detentions of suspected protesters near the Israeli embassy continued on Saturday

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will stick to its peace treaty with Egypt despite the attack on its embassy in Cairo.

He was speaking after protesters stormed the Israeli embassy on Friday, prompting the evacuation of nearly all Israeli diplomatic staff.

Egypt is on alert after the attack, in which three people died as security forces fought rioters in Cairo.

Cairo says those involved in the attack will be tried in an emergency court.

Anti-Israeli feeling rose after violence on the Gaza border last month.

Five Egyptian policemen were killed as Israeli forces pursued Palestinian militants who had killed eight Israelis.

The clashes at the Israeli embassy, which went on through Friday night, have shocked people both in Egypt and abroad, the BBC’s Bethany Bell reports from the Egyptian capital.

Reports on Egyptian State TV said Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had offered to step down but his resignation was refused by the country’s military leader, Field Marshal Tantawi.

Under Egypt’s former leader, Hosni Mubarak, such violent displays of anger against Israel would not have been tolerated, our correspondent says.

Now the army has to try to balance the demands of its angry people and its longstanding strategic commitments, she adds.

The US state department said it was “deeply concerned” about the attack on the Israeli embassy and relieved no staff had been injured.

Urging Egypt to safeguard the security of all foreign embassies on its territory, it stressed that both Israel and Egypt were “key partners and allies” of the US.

Evacuation

Egyptian state media say at least 448 people were injured in the clashes overnight into Saturday.

The unrest began after Friday prayers, when thousands converged on Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand faster political reforms following the ousting of Mr Mubarak in February.

From there, hundreds marched on the Israeli embassy. They smashed through a security wall around the building before a group of about 30 broke in and threw documents out of windows.

An Israeli official told the BBC that the intruders had entered consular offices, but not the main embassy.

After initially standing by, police moved against the protesters, firing tear gas. Several vehicles were set alight.

Israel evacuated its ambassador Yitzhak Levanon and nearly all its diplomats. Altogether 80 people – embassy staff and their families – were flown out overnight to Israel.

Six members of the embassy staff were trapped inside the building during the riot and had to be rescued by Egyptian commandos, an Israeli official told the BBC.

The Israeli consul remains in Cairo as acting ambassador.

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