Egypt releases Israeli reporter

Cairo, 22 March-(ANA)-Egyptian authorities have released an Israeli journalist arrested crossing the border into Israel on the trail of illegal African migrants.

Yotam Feldman, 30, was held for a week by the Egyptian authorities, who arrested him with a Ghanaian man in the Sinai desert.

His father claimed he had been beaten while in custody.

Egyptian border guards have shot nine African migrants this year trying to make it across the border.

The Israeli government requested a clampdown by Egyptian authorities after a rise in the number of asylum claims from Africans in Israel.

The long desert border is also a route for drug smugglers. (ANA)

FA/ANA/22 March 2010------