More Egyptians released as part of Cairo - Tel Aviv prisoner exchange deal

Tuesday 15-12-2015 03:54 AM
More Egyptians released as part of Cairo - Tel Aviv prisoner exchange deal

Borders between Egypt and Israel at Taba - Mohamed Abdel Ghani/Reuters

By

CAIRO, Dec. 14 (Aswat Masriya) - Four more Egyptians were released from Israeli prisons as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Egyptian and Israeli authorities after Egypt released Israeli "spy" Ouda Tarabin, said state's TV on Monday.

Last Thursday, Tarabin was released upon completeing a 15-year sentence for espionage. On the same day, two Egyptians held in Israeli prisons were released after completing their detention period.

The Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman Ofir Gendelman announced later on the same day that four more Egyptian prisoners are to be returned to Egypt as part of the deal. Gendelman added that one of the four Egyptians completed his detention period while the other three were pardoned. 

This brings the total number of Egyptians released to six. 

Tarabin had been serving a prison sentence in Tora prison for the past 15 years after being convicted of espionage for passing on sensitive military information to Israel.

He is a member of the Bedouin tribe of Tarabin whose members live on both sides of the Egyptian-Israeli border and one of the largest tribes in Sinai.

Tarabin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu after his release, said Gendelman on the day of his release. 

facebook comments