Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Israeli tank fire kills three Egyptian police officers


Big News Network.com Friday 19th November, 2004

An Israeli army tank opened fire on three Egyptian police officers early Thursday mistaking them for Palestinian militants.

The three officers, members of the Central Security Forces, a paramilitary unit run by the Egyptian Interior Ministry, were killed instantly.

Israel has apologised for the incident and has promised a full investigation.

Egypt has accepted the killings were a mistake but has requested more information.

Israel and Egypt have been at peace since an agreement signed in 1979. The two have been discussing possible co-operation following the planned disengagement by Israel from Gaza.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit is due to visit Israel next week to discuss the disengagement plan and the future of the Palestinian Authority following the death of Yasser Arafat.

He will be accompanied on the visit by intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been mediating between Israel and the Palestinians on the disengagement plan.

The Isreali army often opens fire on Palestinians they say are militants, accusing them of of being in the process of planning terrorist attacks or smuggling arms. Palestinians say the attacks are often on unarmed civilians who are not members of a militant group.

Thursday's incident weighs against the Israelis as there appears there was no provocation or reason for Israel to direct tank fire at the Egyptian trio whose job was simply policing the Gaza-Egytpian border.

A spokesman for Israel's Foreign Minister said, 'It's in a very delicate part of the border where we've had problems with terrorist infiltrations in the past.'

'If Egyptians were hit then we regret it. This was not our intention. We want good cooperative relations with Egypt, and if Egyptians were hurt than our thoughts go out to them and their families and the Egyptian people,' he added.


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