- JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel
has warned its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, the only
Arab states with which it has full ties, out of concern they could come
under attack, a government official said on Wednesday.
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- The advisory was issued on the recommendation of Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert's Counter-terrorism Unit, which this week placed Egypt
and Jordan in its highest threat category, alongside enemy states such
as Iran, Syria and Lebanon.
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- Israeli officials gave no further details.
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- Israeli-Egyptian relations were strained this month over
allegations that Israel's armed forces massacred Egyptian prisoners during
the 1967 Middle East War. Israel denies it.
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- Israel has long urged its citizens to avoid resorts in
the Egyptian Sinai, where militants have carried out several suicide bombings.
The new advisory made clear that Israelis should consider all parts of
Egypt unsafe until further notice.
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- Jordan has a large Palestinian population, which has
been aggrieved by Israeli crackdowns on a 6 1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising
in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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