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 Egypt has decided Saturday to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv to protest the killing of five policemen on the border during attacks on Palestinian resistance fighters, state television said Saturday.The Egyptian government had asked "for an official apology from Israel" at the end of a crisis meeting overnight, the state-run MENA news agency reported in a statement. Just hours later, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed ‘regret’ over the deaths of Egyptian policemen and promised a full investigation. He said he ordered the "army to open an investigation" into 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, he 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." A top Israeli defense official stressed meanwhile that peace with Egypt "is a strategic asset" and it would be unthinkable for Israeli personnel to target their Egyptian counterparts. Amos Gilad, head of the defense ministry political department, also urged patience until the results of a probe are known. "Nobody in the army, nobody anywhere in the security establishment has any intention of harming Egyptian soldiers or Egyptian policemen, on the contrary, the intention of course is to not harm them," he said. "No soldier would consciously aim his weapon at Egyptian soldiers or policemen," Gilad told Israeli public radio. High-ranking Egyptian politicians have reacted to the deadly incident. “Israel has to realize that the days in which our sons are killed without an appropriate and strong reaction are forever gone,” said Amr Moussa, the former foreign minister and head of the Arab League, on his personal Twitter account. Former Egyptian ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy has also stated that such violence against a “democratic Egypt” is unacceptable. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has said in a message published on his Facebook page: "Egyptian blood is too precious to be spilled for no reason." "Our glorious revolution took place so that Egyptians could regain their dignity at home and abroad. What was tolerated in pre-revolution Egypt will not be in post-revolution Egypt," he said. Egypt's cabinet has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Cairo over the issue, expressing regret over the reaction o  f Tel Aviv to the incident. "Egypt deplores the irresponsible and hasty statements made by some leaders in Israel, which lack the wisdom and prudence and pass judgment before arriving at the truth, particularly keeping in mind the sensitivity of Egyptian-Israeli relations," the cabinet said in a statement.Meanwhile, angry Egyptians have continued their protest outside the Tel Aviv embassy in Cairo, calling on authorities to cut ties with the Tel Aviv regime and expel its ambassador. Information Minister Osama Heykal was quoted as saying by MENA 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." Egypt's military chief of staff, Sami Enan, headed to the Sinai on Friday to probe the deaths of the policemen killed a day earlier. There have been conflicting reports from the Egyptian military and police about how they lost their lives. A military official told Egypt's official MENA news agency on Thursday that they were killed by stray Israeli helicopter fire aimed at the fleeing gunmen. But on Friday, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper quoted a military official as saying the policemen were killed by gunmen trying to slip in from “Israel”. Enan's visit was announced shortly after another policeman was declared dead following a border gunfight on Friday, which left one of his comrades gravely wounded with a bullet in the head. | |||
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Thousands of Egyptians protest, demand removal of Israeli ambassador
[ 20/08/2011 - 10:29 AM ]
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Thousands of Egyptians continue to demonstrate outside of the Israeli embassy in Cairo demanding the removal of the Israeli ambassador in response to Israeli gunfire that killed five men from the Egyptian security forces.
The demonstrations began on Friday after sermons and congregational prayers in several cities across the country. The largest have taken place in Cairo and Alexandria.
Our correspondent in Cairo has learned that those behind the Egyptian revolution in January have refused to respond to requests to disperse by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. He said there are intentions to turn the demonstration into a sit-in that would carry on until the embassy was shut down.
Egypt has protested after Israel killed five of its troops in Sinai on its borders with the Palestinian territories.
Egyptian media outlets have quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel.
Egypt’s MENA has quoted one military official as saying the soldiers were killed by a missile fired from an Israeli helicopter in pursuit of activists near the Egyptian borders.
Among those who have taken part in the protests is presidential candidate Abdul-Mun’im Abul Fattouh. He called for considering what happened as an opportunity to amend the country’s peace treaty with Israel and allow more Egyptian troops to be deployed along the borders.
In Alexandria, protesters have tried to enter the Israeli consulate in the city’s Kafr Abdo district as military police have surrounded the area with tanks and barbed wire in order to stop them.
A number of youths managed to ascend to the top of the building where the consulate is located and raise Egyptian and Palestinian flags.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Attorney General in El-Arish has issued its first report on the Sinai killings, saying that Israel used projectiles that explode inside the body, confirming the intent to kill.
The report added that one of the soldiers was hit by seven bullets to various parts of the body and another in the chest and abdomen, confirming that there was intent to kill the targets.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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