Egyptian prisoners reach border crossing, to be released for swap

An Israel Prison Service convoy carrying 25 Egyptian nationals, to be freed in a prisoner swap in exchange for the release of an Israeli-American held in Cairo, arrived at Taba crossing point in Israeli southern port city of Eilat. According to the swap deal reached by Egyptian and Israeli officials earlier this week, dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel will be returned to Israel, after being held four months on espionage charges. A bus parked at the Egyptian side of the crossing to carry the detained to Taba hotel where they'll be received by governors of Sinai and representatives from the local Bedouin community, an Egyptian security source told Xinhua. Grapel was initially planned to cross into Israel at nine a.m.( 0700 GMT) via the same crossing point, but in the end officials from both countries agreed to fly him directly from Cairo to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion International Airport around five p.m.(1500 GMT) Thursday. Freed Grapel will be debriefed by defense officials once in Israel. He will then board a plane to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family, Israel's Ynet news reported. Ilan Grapel was arrested on June 12, alleged of being an agent of Israel's Mossad agency and was accused by Egyptian military authorities for sowing sectarian strife during the political turmoil in February.