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Mexico Denounces Deadly Attack on Tourists by Egyptian Forces Mexico Presses Egypt for Inquiry Into Deadly Attack on Tourists
(about 11 hours later)
CAIRO — Mexico’s foreign minister expressed indignation on Wednesday after she visited Mexican tourists in a Cairo hospital, where they were recovering from injuries sustained in a mistaken strike by Egyptian security forces that killed a dozen people, including eight Mexicans, on Sunday. CAIRO — Mexico’s foreign minister pressed Egypt’s leaders on Wednesday for a full investigation of an attack by the security forces on picnicking tourists last Sunday that killed a dozen people, including eight Mexicans.
The minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, arrived in Egypt early Wednesday with relatives of the wounded and killed tourists, seeking answers about the attack, in which a helicopter gunship fired on a tour group that had stopped for a picnic in the Western Desert. The killings on Sunday strained relations between the two countries and raised concerns about the rules governing the use of lethal force by Egypt’s military and police. The security forces stand accused of failing to discriminate between militants and civilians in campaigns against insurgents, a charge that Egypt’s government rejects.
The deaths opened a rift between the countries and raised concerns about the rules governing the use of lethal force by Egypt’s security forces. The strike on Sunday took place after the tour group, which had been in Egypt a few days, had stopped for a midday meal during an excursion in Egypt’s Western Desert. The area is a known tourist attraction for its picturesque sand dunes and surreal rock formations.
“In Mexico, we are very concerned about what happened,” Ms. Ruiz Massieu told reporters at Dar al-Fouad Hospital, on the western outskirts of Cairo. “We are very indignant about the incident that injured six Mexican nationals, and in which eight Mexicans lost their lives.” A helicopter gunship opened fire on the group after mistaking them for militants, according to a statement issued by the Interior Ministry on Monday. The attack left 12 people dead including a tour guide and three other Egyptian tourism workers. Some were shot as they tried to flee across the dunes, according to an eyewitness.
Ms. Ruiz Massieu also said she would meet Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, later on Wednesday. Mexico’s foreign minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, flew to Cairo on Tuesday on a trip arranged in haste in aftermath of the killings, contributing to a sense of crisis around the attack. She accompanied relatives of tourists killed and wounded in the attack. On Wednesday morning, she visited the wounded Mexicans at Dar al-Fouad, a hospital on western edge of Cairo.
“We will see from there what’s the next step in terms of taking foreign nationals back home, and taking our nationals who lost their lives back home as well,” she said. “I have come to Egypt to hold meetings at the highest level both with the president of Egypt and with the minister of foreign affairs, expressing in those meetings the importance for Mexico and its people to have a thorough and comprehensive, prompt and transparent investigation that will allow us to know what actually happened on Sunday,” she said during a somber news conference alongside her Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
The military strike took place after the tour group, which had been in Egypt a few days, had stopped to eat a meal in the desert, with the permission of a police escort. Mr. Shoukry said Egypt was committed to such an investigation, according to the text of a joint statement issued by the two foreign ministers on Wednesday. Ms. Ruiz Massieu said the two officials had “worked together throughout the day” on the document.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees Egypt’s domestic security forces, said crew members on the helicopter had fired on the tour group after mistaking them for militants. On Sunday, Islamic State militants published photographs online that they said showed an offensive against government forces in the area. Numerous questions remain as to how and why the crew on board the American-made Apache helicopter decided to open fire on a tour group in daylight. In its initial statement on Monday, Egypt’s Interior Ministry blamed the tour operator for venturing into a restricted area. But the group was accompanied by a police escort and had been granted permission for the day’s trip from the authorities.
A military spokesman said the Interior Ministry was responsible for the attack. The Interior Ministry also initially said the helicopter had opened fire by mistake. Yet when asked during the news conference whether he would describe the attack as an error, Mr. Shoukry, the foreign minister, demurred.
Human rights groups say the attack was indicative of a wider failure by Egyptian military and security forces to adequately distinguish civilians from combatants. In the North Sinai region, where the armed forces have been accused in the past of lax rules of engagement, the military is waging a fight against insurgents who have killed hundreds of soldiers and police officers. “I think it’s self-evident that the loss of life of civilians in circumstances such as this is an exceptional event,” he said. “It is not one that is in any way — can be described except as an unfortunate event.”
The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, rejected those criticisms in an open letter addressed to the Mexican people and published on Tuesday. The joint statement and news conference on Wednesday struck a more conciliatory tone than earlier in the week. Before flying to Egypt Ms. Ruiz Massieu had called the attack an act of “unjustified aggression.”
“I am deeply troubled,” he wrote, “that some people have chosen to exploit this tragic event to allege that Egyptian law enforcement officials have no strict rules of engagement, act indiscriminately, or do not take the necessary precautions during their operations.” That tone was lowered significantly on Wednesday. The joint statement speaks of the two countries’ “willingness to move forward toward enhancing bilateral relations in all fields.” Ms. Ruiz Massieu said during the news conference, “All of the government of Mexico’s concerns and requests have been met with cooperation and a positive attitude from the government and people of Egypt.”
Human rights groups say the attack was indicative of a wider failure by the Egyptian security forces to adequately distinguish civilians from combatants. In the North Sinai region, where the armed forces have been accused in the past of lax rules of engagement, the military is waging a fight against insurgents who have killed hundreds of soldiers and police officers.