Egyptian security officers killed in Border shooting

Two Egyptian security officers were killed today in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops after crossing the border into Israel.

The deadly shooting took place just two days before the leaders of Israel and Egypt are scheduled to meet for the first time in 16 months, in an effort to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Both sides said the other shot first, and that the bodies were found on their side of the border. Essam el-Sheikh, the head of Egyptian police in the border area, said it was not clear why the Egyptian security officers crossed into Israel.

A military official from Israel’s Southern Command said attackers let loose a volley of fire on an Israeli hilltop military post early today.

The Israeli forces identified three armed men and returned fire, he said. Two were hit and the third fled, he said.

Israeli troops went over to the bodies and discovered the men were dressed in Egyptian security force uniforms, the official said.

They were carrying assault rifles, and dozens of bullet casings lay on the ground nearby, he added.

A fence and a border marker clearly demarcated the boundary, he said, and described the incident as a rogue activity.

The exchange of fire “doesn’t characterise our relations with the Egyptians,” he said. “We have good relations with them and will continue to cooperate with them.”

The head of the Southern Command, Major General Yoav Galant, went to the scene to conduct a preliminary investigation, and met Egyptian officials, the military said.

Major Assaf Shatzkin. Deputy commander of the armoured battalion involved. Said it was “a case of two terrorists wearing the uniform of a foreign army, armed with radios and Kalashnikov (assault rifles), who without a doubt crossed the border to attack forces in the field”.

Egyptian police said three Egyptian security personnel exchanged fire with the Israeli soldiers after crossing the border and that two of them were killed.

It wasn’t clear why they crossed over into Israel, el-Sheikh said. Israeli troops fired first, he added.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that two policemen were killed, and that their bodies were found 200 metres inside Egypt from the Israeli border.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, and their border is usually quiet, except for occasional drug smuggling into Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are to meet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss ways to renew long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a time when Hamas militants opposed to Israel’s existence rule the Palestinian Authority.

It will be the first meeting between Israeli and Egyptian leaders since then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh to announce an Israeli-Palestinian truce.