Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has reported an Iranian plot to assassinate
its ambassador in Egypt.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps planned to kill ambassador Ahmed Al Qattan in Cairo in 2012. A
ministry official said Egyptian authorities arrested three Iranian agents in
late January.

“Egyptian authorities informed concerned parties at the Saudi Foreign Ministry of the details of the plot, but the Saudi side opted to keep silent on the matter,” Sami Jamal, the legal adviser of the Saudi embassy in Egypt, said.

In a briefing on May 1, Jamal did not identify the Iranian suspects. But he linked Iran to the violent demonstrations that took place in late April against the Saudi embassy and consulates in Egypt, which led to the withdrawal of staffers.

Since the closure of the Saudi embassy, Egyptian military regime chief
Hussein Tantawi telephoned Saudi King Abdullah. Officials said Tantawi, also defense minister, pledged to increase protection of Saudi facilities and staffers.

“The current crisis between Egypt and Saudi Arabia will be contained,
given the solid relations between the two countries which transcend any
problem,” Egyptian Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abu
El Naga said.

“Everybody was concerned that foreign parties would exploit
demonstrations by some [Egyptians] outside the embassy to attack members of
the mission,” Salmi said.

The disclosure came less than a week after Al Qattan said the Saudi
embassy and consulates were closed because of threats in Egypt. At the same
time, Egyptian authorities were accused of failing to protect Saudi staffers
in what threatened a pledge by Riyad of $750 million to Cairo. Egypt’s
official Middle East News Agency denied that Al Qattan had been under
threat.

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