Veteran Mideast reporter ridicules Maan article that Israeli officials in
secret Cairo visit
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA 14 May 2014

Veteran Mideast reporter Mark Lavie, who recently returned home to Tel Aviv
after two years in Cairo, advised IMRA that he gets a good laugh from
reports (see below) like this.

Israel's entire embassy staff returns home every weekend and goes back to
Cairo on Mondays. Every few weeks someone writes a breathless story like
this after "spotting" them at the airport, as if something conspiratorial
is happening. The clue in this story is "high profile" but "secret" mission.

Mark's new book, "Broken Spring," explains curiosities like these and many
other issues, including Jewish life and death in Cairo, the al-Sisi
phenomenon and why democracy doesn't work there. It's available from
amazon.com as an e-book or paperback.

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Israeli officials in secret Cairo visit
Published yesterday (updated) 13/05/2014 20:13
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=696980

CAIRO (Ma'an) – A high-profile delegation of Israeli officials landed in
Cairo on Monday, an Egyptian official told Ma’an.

According to the well-placed official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
the delegation boarded a private plane which took off from Tel Aviv. They
were welcomed at Cairo International Airport by Egyptian general
intelligence officers.

The Egyptian authorities have not made any public announcements about what
the source described as a "secret mission."

The official said the visiting Israeli officials would meet with their
counterparts in the Egyptian foreign ministry and general intelligence
service. They were expected to ask the Egyptians to help the new Israeli
ambassador to Egypt with his daily operations.

They will also discuss mutual relations with Egypt and cooperation between
both countries over security arrangements in the Sinai Peninsula, the source
highlighted.

On Sunday, unidentified gunmen shot and killed an Egyptian soldier and
injured another in the northern Sinai Peninsula, army sources said.

Egyptian military sources told Ma'an that unidentified gunmen opened fire at
a group of soldiers in al-Joura village near Sheikh Zuweid, killing one and
critically injuring another.

The soldiers fired back and the gunmen fled the scene, the sources said.

The injured soldier was taken to a military hospital in el-Arish.

Egyptian armed forces launched large scale military action against militants
in the Sinai Peninsula in September, in what officials have described as the
largest mobilization of force in the area since the 1973 war with Israel.

The military action comes in the wake of rising instability and almost daily
attacks in the region, following a July coup by the Egyptian military which
unseated President Mohammad Morsi.

Since then, Muslim Brotherhood activists have held weekly demonstrations in
protest against the coup, while the army has consolidated its grip on power
and violently repressed protests against its rule, killing around 1,400
according to Amnesty International.

At the same time, Wahhabi militant groups have stepped up a violent campaign
of attacks against the government, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula.