Israel's ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, returned to Cairo on Sunday after he was evacuated in September following an attack on the embassy, an airport official told Agence France Presse.

"Levanon arrived in the early hours of Sunday on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul," the official said.

Two people were killed and hundreds injured in Egypt this weekend as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in a violent countdown to the first elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

"Down with Tantawi," hundreds of demonstrators cried in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, referring to the post-Mubarak military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, as they lobbed rocks and other objects towards armed police.

Tens were wounded when Egyptian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes with protesters on Saturday as they broke up a sit-in organized by people injured during the Arab Spring, triggering a heated skirmish.

"Down with Tantawi," protesters cried, referring to the country's military ruler Hussein Tantawi, as they lobbed rocks and whatever they could towards policemen who responded with heavy volleys of rubber bullets.

At least 33 people were killed in violence in Syria on Friday, most of them in the restive city of Homs, as Human Rights Watch accused the regime of crimes against humanity.

The Local Coordination Committees said that 33 people were killed at the hands of security forces during Friday’s demonstrations.

Angry Syrian protesters pelted a group of opposition leaders with eggs outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday, preventing them from entering the building for talks with the organization's chief about the violence in Syria.

The scuffle highlights the deep divisions within the Syrian opposition, which is struggling to overcome infighting and inexperience eight months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has stressed upon his return from Doha the importance of respect for agreements signed between Lebanon and Syria.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Tuesday, Mansour said he would return to Cairo on Wednesday to participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Arab League’s initiative committee to solve the situation in Syria.

Five Arab Spring activists have won the European parliament's Sakharov prize awarded to campaigners for freedom, a parliamentary source said Thursday.

The laureates are Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia, awarded posthumously, Egyptian militant Asmaa Mahfouz, Libyan dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, Syrian lawyer Razan Zeitouneh and Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat, the source added.

Egypt and Israel are adding the "final touches" to a deal to swap an Israel-American detained in Cairo for a group of Egyptian prisoners and children, the official MENA news agency said on Saturday.

"MENA has learned that the final touches are currently being made for a deal to swap Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, accused of spying on Egypt for Israel, for about 16 Egyptian prisoners and three detained children," MENA reported.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Sunday that Lebanon will not take a position that would harm Syria’s security and stability during the Arab foreign ministers’ meetings scheduled to take place in Cairo later on Sunday.

He added: “Lebanon will take a stand that supports Syria and its efforts to implement reform.”

Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests, the official MENA news agency reported.

The agency cited the Arab League's deputy leader Ahmed Ben Helli as saying the meeting would be held at the request of the Gulf Cooperation Council.