Border clashes follow attempt to kill Mubarak
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Khartoum (Reuter, AFP) - Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan el-Beshir, the leader of Sudan, yesterday said Egyptian troops had attacked a police post near the joint border, killing two Sudanese policemen.
General Beshir, speaking on his return from the Organisation of African Unity summit in Ethiopia, said Egyptian police had attacked other police posts in the disputed Halaib Triangle.
The clashes came after Cairo hinted that the Sudanese government may have helped gunmen who tried to assassinate the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, in Addis Ababa on Monday. He was unhurt.
A Sudanese interior ministry statement said seven Sudanese policemen were wounded in the clash on Tuesday. Egyptian security sources had earlier said three Egyptians and three Sudanese were hurt in a clash.
General Beshir condemned Mr Mubarak as "irresponsible" for suggesting Sudan was behind the attempted killing, accusing him of trying to blame others for Egypt's security problems.
In Cairo, Mr Mubarak ruled out sending troops to overthrow Sudan's hardline Islamic government. After meeting exiled Sudanese opposition leaders, he denied plotting with Britain and the United States to overthrow General Beshir's government.
The Sudanese leader said Mr Mubarak was provoking Khartoum by holding the meetings with exiles, including the former president, Jaafar Nimeiri.
Mr Mubarak said: "We are not preparing a coup d'etat and I say to General Beshir: 'We are not intervening in your internal affairs and if we wanted to overthrow your regime, we could do it in 10 days'. Egypt does not intervene in the internal affairs of a country ... but I hope the Sudanese people fulfil their wishes because they are capable of dealing with their leaders, taking the necessary decisions and putting them into practice.
"We are not being asked to intervene militarily because that would lead to deaths among the Sudanese, something we don't want because we think of Sudanese like Egyptians."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments