Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon apologised to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday after an Israeli tank crew killed three Egyptian policemen on the border between Egypt and Gaza. The Egyptian state news agency MENA said Sharon called Mubarak by telephone to make the apology. It said the Israelis had fired on the policemen by mistake.

The incident took place in the dark at around 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on the Israeli-controlled corridor separating the Gaza Strip from Egyptian territory to the west. Egyptian security sources said the bodies of three policemen – Hani Ali Sobhi, Aamir Abu Bakr Aamir and Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ali –had been taken to hospitals in the border town of Rafah.

Israeli military officials said the Israeli tank crew had mistaken the Egyptians for Palestinian militants and thought they were planting explosives against Israeli forces. Israeli embassy spokesman Israel Tikochinski said: “There are contacts between the Israeli side and the Egyptian side trying to investigate the details of this tragic incident.” The Egyptian authorities made no official statement giving details of the incident, which could upset Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit’s plans to visit the Jewish state next week.

An Egyptian official source said it was not yet clear what effect the incident would have on the visit, which is scheduled for Nov. 24 and is part of Egypt’s attempts to help the Palestinians prepare for possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Aboul Gheit left Cairo on yesterday morning for the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where the UN Security Council is holding a special session on the conflict in southern Sudan. Security arrangements in the Rafah area have played a prominent part in talks between Egypt and Israel over the future of Gaza if Israeli forces withdraw.