CAIRO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said on Sunday that his country and Egypt will set up a joint committee
to investigate Friday border incident, during which two Egyptian policemen were
shot dead by Israeli border guards.
Olmert revealed the decision at a joint conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in
Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. This is Olmert's first visit to Egypt
since he became Israeli prime minister on May 4.
The Israeli prime minister sent his condolences to
the Egyptian side on the deaths of the two Egyptian policemen.
"We have decided to set up a joint committee to study
the incident," Olmert told the reporters, adding that he had order the Israeli
security authorities to cooperate their Egyptian counterparts in the
investigation.
On Friday morning, a firefight between Israeli border
guards and Egyptian policemen erupted at the Egyptian-Israeli border in northern
Sinai, during which two Egyptian policemen were shot dead by Israeli forces.
The Egyptian security authorities said in an early
investigation report that the two policemen were killed by Israeli border guards
on the Egyptian side of the borders and their bodies were then dragged to
Israeli side by Israeli soldiers to cover up the action, according to Egypt's
official MENA news agency.
The Israeli side, however, reported that three
Egyptian border policemen had crossed the border and exchanged fire with Israeli
border guards, during which two Egyptian policemen were killed while a third one
fled back to Egypt. Enditem
