Six Egyptian students will be released by Israel after being arrested in August near the desert border, according to an Egyptian newspaper. Israel will release within hours six Egyptian students arrested in August and charged with conspiring to abduct and kill Israeli soldiers, the Egyptian state newspaper al-Ahram reported on Sunday. The newspaper did not say whether Egypt would make a reciprocal gesture, but Israel has been pressing Cairo for years to free Azzam Azzam, an Israeli businessman found guilty of spying in 1997 and imprisoned for 15 years. Israel agreed to release the students when Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghait and intelligence chief Umar Sulayman visited Israel last week, al-Ahram said. Egyptian officials said they had heard about a possible release of the students, but not about Azzam Azzam. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report. **Intervention*** Another state newspaper, al-Jumhuria, said on Saturday Israel would release the students into the custody of the Egyptian consulate in Tel Aviv. It did not say when this would happen. The paper also said Egyptian President Husni Mubarak had intervened with Israel on behalf of the students. Mubarak told reporters on Saturday that Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghait and intelligence chief Umar Sulayman raised the issue with Israeli officials during a visit on Wednesday. "God willing, they will be freed very soon," he said. Israeli authorities say they arrested the students near the desert border between the two countries for allegedly crossing into Israel illegally, armed with an airgun and knives. **Employment seekers*** State prosecutors told a magistrate's court in the Israeli town of Beersheba the students had plotted to kidnap Israeli soldiers to use as bargaining chips for Palestinian prisoners. The students are also accused of having intended to hijack an army tank, kill its crew and then rob a bank to get money that could be used to fund further attacks on Israel, according to Israeli state prosecutors. Parents of the students have constantly been saying in interviews that their sons had no political views or affiliations and had gone to Israel merely to find work, as many young Egyptians have done in the past. Al-Ahram named the students as Imad Sayyid, Muhammad Yusri, Mustafa Mahmud Yusuf, Mustafa Abu Daif, Mahmud Jamal Izzat and Muhammad Mahir. The students are aged between 21 and 25, the paper said. **Border killing*** Relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv were strained again on 18 November, three Egyptian border policemen were killed by Israeli tank fire while on patrol on the Egyptian side of the border. Cairo lodged a formal complaint after Israel said the army killed the policemen by "mistake", threatening to plunge their delicate diplomatic ties into crisis mode. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is said to have defused the row by calling President Husni Mubarak to express "deep sorrow" over the incident on the Gaza border and promised to keep him abreast of an official investigation. There has been no report yet on the findings of the inquiry. The families of the victims are reported to suing both Egypt and Israel for the killings. According to Haaretz newspaper the Egyptian government is said to have paid each of the families 70,000 Egyptian pounds (11,300 US dollar) in compensation. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Israeli border policemen guard a car carrying Egyptian student prisoners at the entrance of a jail in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba December 5, 2004. (Reuters)