Statement on Suleiman assassination attempt retracted

German diplomat at Munich Security Conference tells CNN he believed it was a "confirmed report," but was actually "unsubstantiated.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Egypt's Omar Suleiman 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Egypt's Omar Suleiman 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
The German diplomat who first said an assassination attempt was made on Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has retracted his statement, CNN reported Saturday afternoon.
Wofgang Ischinger, host of the Munich Security Conference taking place Saturday in Germany told CNN he "was led to believe that we had a confirmed report but in fact we didn't."
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The diplomat added that the information came from an "unsubstantiated source."
Earlier Saturday, reports circulated through the media that an assassination attempt was made on the Egyptian vice president in recent days. The report originated from a German diplomat.
According to the now-questioned report, two of Suleiman's bodyguards were killed in the attack.
Suleiman had been Egypt's intelligence chief but was appointed the country's first vice president in Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign following the start of mass protests against the regime last week.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to address the reports of an assassination attempt.
Click here for full Jpost coverage of unrest in Egypt
Click here for full Jpost coverage of unrest in Egypt
On Friday, Suleiman told the ABC television network that Egypt will uphold the current peace agreement with Israel without violations.
"Yes we will have a peace agreement," Suleiman said after he was asked whether peace will remain. "We will keep it firmly and not violate it at all.
When questioned about the conversation held with US President Barack Obama regarding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, Suleiman said: "My telephone call with [US Secretary of State Hilary] Clinton...We discussed this issue but she didn't ask that President Mubarak step down now. But I told her it was a process, and at the end of it, President Mubarak will leave."
Suleiman explained that the outcome in Egypt would not be similar to that of Tunisia, which resulted in Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country with his family. He said Mubarak did not intend on leaving Egypt.
"No, Egypt will not be anything like Tunisia," he said. "This is different. You know that our president is a fighter. He lived on this soil and he will die on this soil."