Israel 'Regrets' Deaths of Egyptian Policemen

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday said Israel "regrets" the deaths of Egyptian policemen killed on the border during an Israeli pursuit of militants who killed eight Israelis.

"Israel regrets the deaths of Egyptian policemen during the attacks on the Egyptian-Israeli border," Barak said about Thursday's assault by gunmen in the Eilat region of Israel.

The defense minister said he ordered the Israeli "army to open an investigation," in remarks that came hours after Egyptian state media said the Cairo government decided to recall its envoy from Tel Aviv to protest the killings.

"The circumstances of this incident will be examined jointly with the Egyptian army," and the conclusions will be drawn in light of the results of the probe, Barak said in a statement.

He also insisted that the peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel was "strategic and highly important for stability in the Middle East."

Earlier, Egyptian Information Minister Osama Heykal was quoted as saying by the state-run MENA news agency that five policemen were killed "inside Egyptian territory as a result of an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and armed elements inside Israeli territory."

There had been conflicting reports of the deaths.

Security forces told Agence France Presse that five policemen, including an officer, were killed at the border on Thursday during an Israeli pursuit of militants who killed eight Israelis.

The military initially told MENA on Thursday that two policemen were killed when an Israeli aircraft opened fire on the fleeing militants, catching the policemen in the line of fire.

But military and security officials later said the policemen were killed in a clash with gunmen as they tried to enter Egypt.

The deaths prompted anger in Egypt where hundreds of people demonstrated overnight outside the Israeli embassy calling for the expulsion of the Jewish state's envoy and some torching Israeli flags on Saturday.

The decision reported by state media to recall Cairo's ambassador from Tel Aviv is the first diplomatic spat between the two neighbors since a popular uprising ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Egypt has only recalled its ambassador from Israel once since the peace treaty was signed in 1979 -- that happened in November 2000 after it accused the Jewish state of using "excessive force" to crush a Palestinian uprising.

Comments 2
Default-user-icon starsky (Guest) 20 August 2011, 19:05

bigdork, I agree - I think its most unfortunate, but now to the business at hand, how can we find a cell large enough to accomidate the local terrorists behind Hariri's assasination?

Also I am sure we going to have to run into another problem, the dress code for the convicted and the orange jump suits.... do the european penal system have Orange robes and turbans. Be a good boy and run along and find out for us bigdork.

Also I love your picture, March 14 assasinated, burnt, hunted down and killed, but the fist is still raised and strong.

Default-user-icon Wadabish (Guest) 20 August 2011, 19:45

This regret will make it so easy and bearable on their families. There is nothing more honorable for the most (and perhaps the only) criminal state in the world, other that the US, than to kill in cold blood and then say sorry. Doesn't sorry seem to be the hardest word? Just ask Sir Elton John.