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Egypt's government has pledged a "transparent investigation" into a mistaken military airstrike on a tourist convoy that left eight Mexicans dead over the weekend, Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) said Wednesday.
The two countries issued a joint communique following a meeting earlier in Cairo between Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu and her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, to coordinate efforts to attend to the family of the victims and at least six other nationals hospitalized with injuries.
At the meeting, Shoukry "reaffirmed the Egyptian government's commitment to undertake a speedy, exhaustive and transparent investigation to determine the circumstances, responsibilities and causes of this regrettable incident, and assures the correct consideration and implementation of the inquiry," the statement said.
Egyptian military troops and police officers pursuing anti-government guerrillas on Sunday mistakenly shelled the four-vehicle convoy from the air, as the group had stopped for a meal in the Western Desert, near the capital Cairo, according to Egyptian officials. The area is a restricted zone off-limits to civilians, but the group's travel agency had secured the necessary permit.
Ruiz Massieu also met Wednesday with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who promised his government's support in attending to the victims and expediting the procedure to return the bodies of the victims to Mexico.
"Mexico and Egypt expressed their willingness to advance toward strengthening bilateral ties in all fields and continuing collaboration in areas of mutual interest in the international arena, in keeping with the historic ties that unite both peoples and governments," the statement said.
