Egyptian officials said Saturday that the Israeli killed last week in Sinai was killed due to a dispute between him and a Bedouin man. The man was found with stab wounds beneath his left ear.
The Israeli consul in Egypt left Cairo on Saturday morning and made his way to the Sinai desert to inspect the documents that were in the man's possession, Haaretz reported.
The 42-year-old was found dead several kilometers away from Nueba.
Israeli sources said that the investigation indicates that the killing was committed due to "criminal rather than nationalist motives." Army Radio reported that dozens of Bedouin in the area had been arrested and taken for questioning.
Egypt's official MENA news agency quoted security sources as saying they found hashish on the body, "which indicated involvement in illegal, criminal activities".
At approximately 6 P.M. Friday evening, a young Israeli woman arrived from Sinai to the Israeli border at Taba and reported that the killing had taken place. The young woman refused to stay at the border and demanded that she be allowed to continue into Israel.
A liaison officer was summoned, and he detained the young woman. According to Haaretz, the young woman was taken to a police station in the Israeli city of Eilat where she was interrogated. Following this interrogation, an Israeli police spokesperson said that an official confirmation had not yet been received from Egyptian authorities.
The liaison officer remained at the Egyptian-Israeli border at Taba Friday night to investigate the incident. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
