Egyptian Government Disavows Threat to Recall Envoy to Israel.

CAIRO -- Egypt's foreign minister, Mohammed Amr, said Monday that the plan to recall the nation's ambassador to Israel ''was never on the table,'' confirming the government's decision to disavow a threat that generated widespread popular support at home but brought the government under intense diplomatic pressure to back off. The call to withdraw the ambassador, initially announced on state television and posted briefly on the cabinet's Web site, was issued Saturday after three Egyptian security officers were inadvertently killed by Israeli forces chasing down militants who staged a cross-border attack and then fled into Egypt. The killings set off the most serious diplomatic crisis between Egypt and Israel since the historic Camp David peace accords three decades ago, prompting diplomats from other nations to scramble to persuade both sides to cool tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]