Pentagon chief urges Egypt to boost Sinai security

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday "strongly urged" Egyptian authorities to provide better security in the Sinai Peninsula after Israel said an attack on its south was mounted from Egypt. "I am concerned about the situation in the Sinai," Panetta told reporters after talks in Cairo with the country's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. The Pentagon chief "strongly urged" Tantawi "to provide better security in the Sinai," he said, adding that Egyptian leaders reassured him they were "confident" they could ensure security in the peninsula. "Any friction in that area could create real problems for the region," Panetta said. The US defence chief was speaking during a visit to Cairo during which he met Tantawi -- who heads the military council that took power when president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February -- and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. Before flying out of Tel Aviv to Cairo, Panetta said he wanted to encourage Egypt and the Jewish state to ease friction over the Sinai and would also ask the military rulers to release an alleged Israeli spy, Ilan Grapel, who has been in custody since June. On tensions between Israel and Egypt, Panetta "expressed the need for better communication between both countries." Relations between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, entered a turbulent period after Mubarak's overthrow. Last month, Egyptian protesters staged a huge demonstration outside the Israeli embassy and called for the expulsion of the ambassador, before crowds smashed through a security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag.