Cairo: Protesters break into Israeli embassy, destroy flag

Activists use hammers to destroy protective wall around embassy, breach entry, toss documents from windows; no Israelis injured, embassy workers not located in building; 4 Egyptians arrested as 1000s protest.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Protesters burn an Israeli flag 311 (photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany)
Protesters burn an Israeli flag 311
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany)
Egyptian protesters on Friday night broke into the Israeli embassy in Cairo and succeeded in removing the flag from atop the high-rise after they destroyed a protective wall surrounding the building.
No Israelis were injured as Egyptian activists demolished the wall around the Israeli embassy in Cairo during angry protests. Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported late Friday night on their Arabic-language website that four Egyptians had been detained after entering the building where the Israeli mission is located.
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Israeli embassy workers were not located in the building while the protests were taking place.
After Friday prayers, thousands had converged on Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protests that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, for what was billed as "Correcting the Path" protests.
Some of the demonstrators later marched to the other side of the Nile in Giza, where they used hammers and large metal rods to destroy the wall, erected this month by Egyptian authorities after daily protests over the killing of five Egyptian border guards in Sinai.
"This action shows the state of anger and frustration the young Egyptian revolutionaries feel against Israel especially after the recent attacks on the Egyptian borders that led to the killing of Egyptian soldiers," Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah told Reuters.
Egyptian police stood aside as activists tore down the concrete wall to the cheers of hundreds of demonstrators.
"It is great that Egyptians say they will do something and actually do it," Egyptian film director and activist Khaled Youssef said, standing among the protesters outside the embassy.
"They said they will demolish the wall and they did ... the military council has to abide by the demands of the Egyptian people," he said.
Citing Foreign Ministry sources, Israel Radio said the ambassador was safely at his official residence and that Israel was in contact with Egypt, the United States and European powers about the incident.
"Police will not do anything to the protesters and they will be left unharmed to continue demolishing the wall," one security source said.
Protesters also demonstrated outside the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, where some hurled stones at the building.