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GV: portraits of President of Egypt Anwar Sadat with Helicopter behind.
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GV: Israeli troops marching at handover ceremony.
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GV: Egyptian troops march past as Arabs applaud.
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GV: military band plays Israeli anthem as flag is lowered (5 shots)
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GV: Egyptian soldiers deliver egyptian flag to Commander to be raised.
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SV: flag kissed by officer and raised as Egyptian troops present arms.
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GV: Egyptian crowd chanting as flag is raised. (3 shots)
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Israeli troops lowered their flag at a small desert oasis in the Sinai on Wednesday (25 July) and marched out of a further stretch of territory in their latest withdrawal under their peace treaty with Egypt. They evacuated two thousand five hundred square miles (six thousand four hundred square kilometres) of desert along the gulf of Suez.

SYNOPSIS: The inhabitants of ??? economical rich territory seemed to welcome their return to egyptian sovereign after twelve years of Israeli occupation. Hundreds of Bedouin inhabitants of the area watched the brief ceremony in the small oasis of Bir Masseb. This is the second phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai Peninsula. Under the terms of the Peace Treaty the process is due to be completed within 25 months.

Israel's representative Brigadier General Dov Seon said the ceremony marks more than just another military withdrawal. We said it was step forward on the road to peace. However in Tel Aviv disagreement was reported in the Israeli Cabinet over who should replace the United Nations Emergency Force in Sinai. This ceremony took place only hours after the U.N. ordered its force to leave under threat of a Soviet Union veto to an extension of its mandate.

Despite the vacuum that may be left by the departure of the U.N force, Israeli officers said the move was unlikely to put a strain on the peace treaty's implementation.

Egyptian troops cheered as their representative Brigadier General Seif Adin Abu-Shneif hoisted the Egyptian flag. But when the United Nations force leaves, the Israeli and egyptian armies may face each other directly across the new border. While discussions centred on what U.N. agency, if any, should replace the buffer force, many of those people at Bir Masseb said they were happy to go back to Egyptian rule, but some wondered if they would still have well-paying jobs.