CAIRO: Egypt's ministry of interior said it has declared a state of alert and the cancelling of all police vacations after violence erupted outside the Israeli Embassy in Giza left some 1,047 people injured and several police and army vehicles on fire. At least 17 people have been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted late Friday evening and government officials said they would try those detained in emergency state courts. Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had called for an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the events of Friday after a dozen men broke into one of the lower levels of the embassy and threw Hebrew documents in the air from the balconies. The documents date back to 2007 and contain internal matters of the embassy. The scene looked much like a war zone, with cars set on fire and security forces chasing protesters down the streets of Giza. Angry protesters, who hurled rocks at the police, were met with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition fired into the air. One Egyptian man died after suffering a fatal heart attack outside of the embassy, reports indicated. Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people marched from Tahrir Square, which was witnessing a mass protest, towards the Israeli Embassy armed with hammers and iron sticks. They tore down the security wall that the government had built to keep protesters out just this past week. Soon after the clashes occured, the Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, accompanied with his family, left Cairo heading back to Tel Aviv on a military plane. Meanwhile, Israel said it has asked the US to help protect its embassy and American President Barack Obama called on the Egyptian ruling military junta to amp up its security around the embassy and protect its workers. “We reviewed the steps that the United States is taking at all levels to help resolve the situation without further violence, and to call on the Government of Egypt to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy,” said a statement issued by Obama's office on Saturday. Tel Aviv is reportedly holding meetings to discuss the recent events and Ehud Barak, Israel's minister of defense, said he spoke with his American counterpart Leon Panetta over the development and asked him for his help in securing the embassy's situation. Egyptians, who were protesting outside the Israeli embassy into the early morning hours, are angry over the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killing of five Egyptians on the countries shared Sinai border last month. Israel fell short in offering an official apology and said “it regrets the incident.” The Jewish state added that it was “chasing terrorists” fleeing into Egyptian territory. Protests have been nearly ongoing at the Israeli embassy for two weeks before Friday's clashes. BM
