An Egyptian man described as “mentally disturbed” tried to break into Israel’s El Al airline offices Wednesday at Cairo International Airport.
Egyptian security sources said 30-year-old Mostafa Abdel-Latif “mumbled incomprehensibly” during interrogations following the attempted break-in.
According to Al-Ahram’s Arabic language news website, the perpetrator reportedly works at a medical facility in a remote area of the country, the Al-Wadi Al-Gedid governorate.
He told investigators during questioning that he wanted to visit Al-Quds (Jerusalem) to pray at the city’s holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, the website reported.
Authorities in Arab countries often describe perpetrators of political crimes as “mentally disturbed” or as “terrorists,” including Egypt. But although this incident was reported by numerous Egyptian media – among them the state-owned Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper – the head of Cairo airport’s security, Ahmed Mahmoud, denied the incident when reporters asked for a comment on Wednesday. El Al representatives in Cairo were simply unavailable for comment.