Israeli media deny reports on two ''journalists'' arrested trying to enter Arab League HQ in Cairo

Published January 20th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

Two Israeli "journalists" have attempted to enter the ‏

‏headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo as part of a Spanish television ‏delegation, who had an appointment with Secretary General Amr Moussa, the official Kuwait news agency KUNA cited a ‏League source on Tuesday.‏

However, later, Israeli media said the two men were not journalists, but rather "technical crewmembers" that had arrived with a foreign journalist and tried entering the Arab League headquarters to conduct an interview.

According to Israeli press reports, upon identifying themselves as holding Israeli passports, the two men were not allowed to enter the compound, and stayed outside. Contrary to a Monday Al Jazeera report, the two men were not arrested, according to Israeli and Egyptian sources.

Earlier, the source, cited by KUNA, said the two "journalists" claimed they were in the process of getting authorization from Egyptian authorities.‏ The source added that the two men were referred to the relevant authorities. ‏

The Kuwaiti agency added that this incident marked the first Israeli attempt to enter the Arab League headquarters. (Albawaba.com) ‏