Mexico Foreign Minister demands full probe into Egypt attack

Mexico's Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu demanded a full investigation by the Egyptian authorities into the "tragic and unprecedented events" surrounding the attack by Egyptian forces earlier this week that mistakenly killed eight Mexican tourists on a desert safari.

Ruiz said she came to Cairo to be by the bedside of the six Mexican tourists who were wounded in Sunday's incident and who are being treated in Dar al-Fouad hospital in Cairo and to hold meetings "at the highest level" to express "the importance for Mexico and its people to have a thorough and comprehensive, prompt and transparent investigation that would allow us to know what actually happened last Sunday" and determine responsibility for the tragic incident.

Ruiz Massieu spoke at a press conference Wednesday with her Egyptian counterpart.

She says she will bring the injured home to Mexico and expressed her condolences to the Egyptian people, who also lost several citizens in the attack.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry says the killing of eight Mexican tourists, mistakenly slain by Egyptian forces while on a desert safari earlier this week, was a "regrettable" incident.

Shoukry, who spoke during a press conference Monday with his visiting Mexican counterpart, said that the "aim of the Egyptian government is to offer transparency and accountability to the Mexican people", but he stopped short of an apology for the attack, which also wounded six Mexican tourists.

Egypt's top diplomat expressed his "regret for the unfortunate circumstances surrounding" Riuz Massieu's visit and reiterated the Egyptian government's "deepest sympathy, regret and condolences to the government and people of Mexico."

Shoukry would not provide details of the events that lead to the death of the Mexicans, only saying it would have to wait for the full details of the investigation.

Egyptian officials initially claimed the convoy of SUVs had wandered into an off-limits area of Egypt's western desert. But in an open letter to the Mexican people, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the facts of the case remain "confusing" and promised a thorough and impartial investigation.

"We still do not know if the convoy was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if some error was involved," Shoukry wrote in letter published in Mexican newspapers on Wednesday.

"I assure the Mexican people that an impartial inquiry is being held, under the leadership of Egypt's prime minister himself, and that Egypt is prepared to do its utmost to help in any way it can," the letter said.