Reports that Ilan Grapel will be released this week

From Al Ahram:

Al-Hayat newspaper claimed on Sunday that Ilan Grapel, an Israeli-American citizen accused of spying for the Mossad, will depart Egypt with the US secretary of defence, Leon Panetta, on Tuesday.

The unnamed official source added that what Grapel did was not espionage and thus he can be released in return for economic benefits for Egypt.

US congressman Gary Ackerman, who is lobbying for the release of Grapel, offered an increase in economic support for Egypt.

The family of Grapel visited him in his jail with the presence of the American consul in Cairo last Thursday.

Palestine Today quotes Israel's Channel 10 as saying that Israel will release Egyptian prisoners in exchange for Grapel.

Grapel's incarceration, which started last June, was extended for yet another 45 days in mid-September.