Israel has released six Egyptian students from prison as part of a deal which includes the repatriation from Egypt of Israeli businessman and convicted spy Azzam Azzam, it emerged today.
The six students, arrested in August and charged with conspiring to kill Israeli soldiers, were handed over at the Egyptian consulate in Tel Aviv and arrived in Cairo later, Egyptian security sources said.
In return Egypt released Azzam Azzam who was serving a 15-year sentence on espionage charges and he crossed into Israel, a family member said.
Earlier the Arab television Al Arabiya said Azzam, who has been in jail in Egypt since 1997, would reach Israel "within one hour from now" but gave no details.
The Israeli authorities have given no information on the exchange.
Egyptian presidential spokesman Mr Maged Abdel Fattah told reporters there was no connection between the release of the students and the release of Azzam, whose freedom Israeli governments have been seeking for the past seven years.
"There were no deals... There are legal steps dealing with each issue separately," he said.
But Egyptian sources confirmed the exchange agreement and said that the two handovers were meant to be simultaneous.
The Israeli government agreed to release the students when Egyptian Foreign Minister Mr Ahmed Aboul Gheit and intelligence chief Mr Omar Suleiman visited Israel last week, the Egyptian state newspaper al-Ahram said.