The Egyptian foreign ministry has been charged with overseeing the exchange of an Israeli-American alleged spy being held in Egypt for Egyptian prisoners in Israel

The Egyptian foreign ministry has been charged with overseeing the exchange of an Israeli-American alleged spy being held in Egypt for Egyptian prisoners in Israel, the official Mena news agency reported late Thursday.

The foreign ministry will be responsible "for overseeing the exchange of spy Ilan Grapel for Egyptian prisoners, and to take all legal measures to this effect," the agency said.

The decision was made during a meeting of the cabinet of Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

Grapel, who has been in custody since June 12, is accused of being an agent of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and of sowing sectarian strife and chaos in Egypt during the uprising which ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Israel has strongly denied the claims, insisting the whole thing was a mistake and accusing Egyptian authorities of "bizarre behavior."