An adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has suggested that the peace treaty with Israel could be renegotiated.

In a dramatic series of events at the weekend, Mr Morsi sacked two key military figures from the Mubarak era and effectively seized control of the Arab country.

Mr Mors is an Islamist from the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood . His political coup is being watched with concern in Israel and the West.

His legal adviser, Mohammed Gadallah, told Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm on Monday that the president was exploring the possibility of redwrawing the 1979 Camp David Accords.

A change to the treaty, which has held peace on Israel's southern border since then, would be a popular move domestically but it would also hand a victory to hardliners in Egypt.

Last week 16 Egyptian border police were killed by terrorists, who then seized their vehicles in an attempt to infiltrate the border with Israel.

Israel's Shimon Peres, in a letter to Mr Morsi soon after he was elected, noted that peace had saved the lives "of countless young people in Egypt and in Israel". He said: "Unlike war, peace is the victory of both sides."