PM's office denies knowledge of envoy sent to aid Grapel

Official response casts doubts upon reports of Israeli envoy in Cairo working to secure Ilan Grapel's release.

By BEN HARTMAN, HERB KEINON
Ilan Grapel_311 (photo credit: Channel 10 News)
Ilan Grapel_311
(photo credit: Channel 10 News)
The Prime Minister's office on Wednesday denied any knowledge of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu sending an envoy to Cairo to negotiate for the release of accused Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, following reports in the Egyptian media and elsewhere that Netanyahu had sent his envoy Attorney Isaac Molha to Egypt.
A source at the Prime Minister's office added that Molha was in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on Wednesday, despite reports that he was working behind the scenes in Cairo to secure the release of the 27-year-old Israeli-American arrested last Sunday on suspicion of working for the Mossad to foment sectarian violence and gather intelligence on post-revolution Egypt.
RELATED:Investigation of ‘Israeli spy’ Ilan Grapel resumes in EgyptReport: Israel seeks prisoner exchange for Ilan GrapelA report in the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Youm on Wednesday said that Grapel had undergone his eighth interrogation on Tuesday, speaking to investigators in fluent Arabic without the need for an interpreter.
According to the report, an Egyptian legal source said that Grapel had arrived in Egypt as early as January 28th and was a permanent fixture at Cairo's Tahrir square, the heart of the revolution.
The report added that Grapel told officials at Cairo's airport that he was a reporter and stayed with other journalists in downtown Cairo in a hotel overlooking Tahrir square.