Egyptian shot at Israel border dies as ties strain

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CAIRO — An Egyptian policemen shot on the border with Israel last month has died of his injuries, a human rights group said Sunday, bringing to six the number of those killed in an incident that has triggered tensions between the two countries.

Imad Abdel Malak died at dawn Saturday in a Cairo military hospital of his injuries, the Egyptian Association for Human Rights said in a statement.

He was driving the car in which a police officer and four soldiers were killed on August 18 as Israeli troops pursued suspects in a deadly attack that killed eight Israelis.

After the killings Egypt demanded an apology from Israel while huge protests erupted outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

Ties between Egypt and Israel, which have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979, have entered a period of turbulence since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak by a popular uprising in February.

Relations worsened this weekend after protesters stormed Israel’s embassy in Cairo, prompting an evacuation of staff and the departure of ambassador Yitzhak Levanon.

The Israeli government said Levanon would return to Egypt only after security could be guaranteed.

The attack, in which crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag, was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt after the 1979 treaty.