Israel apologises to Egypt over police officer deaths

Ehud Barak's apology follows investigation into clash between Israeli forces and suspected Palestinian militants in August

guardian.co.uk, David Batty and agencies, Wednesday 12 October 2011

Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, has apologised to Egypt for the
 deaths of six Egyptian police officers, killed during a shoot-out in August.
Photograph: Getty Images

Israel has formally apologised to Egypt for the killing of six Egyptian police officers during a shoot-out between Israeli forces and suspected Palestinian militants.

The apology issued by Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak followed a joint investigation into the incident with Egyptian authorities and signals rapprochement between the two countries after a protracted diplomatic crisis.

Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Amr said Israel expressed "deep regret and apology" and issued condolences to the families of the police officers shot by Israeli security forces along their shared border in August.

Barak said in a statement that the militants who killed eight Israelis prior to the shoot-out had "intended to murder Israeli civilians and ruin the peaceful relations between Israel and Egypt".

The violence began when gunmen attacked buses near the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing eight people.

Egyptian officials said Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed – including the police officers.

The incident led Egypt to recall its ambassador to Israel, with the interim government accusing its ally of violating their 1979 peace treaty. Huge protests followed outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, which culminated in the evacuation of the ambassador after crowds of angry demonstrators stormed the building last month.

The violence, in which at least three people died and more than 1,000 were injured, marked the worst diplomatic crisis of Egypt's interim government since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.