Egypt protests Sinai deaths

CAIRO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Egypt called Friday for a speedy investigation of the killing of three of its officers by Israeli forces in the Sinai.

Local news media reported the country lodged a strong protest with Israel, The New York Times said. Security officials said suspected militant fighters tried to conceal themselves among a group of security officers.

The Egyptian government called an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation. The killings have also stoked popular anger against Israel.

Al-Masry al-Youm reported crowds carrying banners, flags and megaphones gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo to protest the "Israeli government's belligerence" in the wake of the deaths of two soldiers and an Egyptian security officer.

"We don't want their embassy here anymore, we don't want their ambassador in our country and we don't want to see that," protester Hisham Ahmed Abbas, 17, said, pointing to an Israeli flag. "We are tired of the unacceptable offenses routinely carried out by Israel against Egypt and the rest of the region, and we want them gone."

Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei joined the chorus but declined to join other candidates calling for a strong military response. He called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to issue a report on what happened.

Former Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh called for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador.

"The Israeli enemy should be aware that Egyptian blood is the most precious thing we have, and that agreements and treaties are not worth the ink used to write them if the blood of citizens is shed," a statement on Abouel Fotouh's Web site said.