Despite an official apology from Egypt for the mistaken killing of 12 Mexican tourists in an army air raid in the country’s Western Desert, Egypt’s ambassador to Mexico has said the army cannot yet be blamed for the killings.
“I cannot assure right now that Egypt’s Army, which was carrying out an operation in the area, is responsible for the attack,” Egypt’s ambassador to Mexico, Yasser Shaaban, told Mexican El Universal newspaper on Sunday. He argued that investigators are still working to determine the circumstances of the attack, which is feared to add to the woes of Egypt's tourism industry.
The tourists, along with their Egyptian guide, were on a safari trip in the Western Desert when they were surprised by an army helicopter that attacked them with rocketfire.
Conflicting accounts from security authorities and tour guides have emerged on whether the tourists had knowledge they were entering a restricted area, causing the helicopter to mistake them for terrorists.
“The Armed Forces, along with public security forces, have always cooperated with each other to carry out any operation in the country,” Shaaban told the newspaper.
