CAIRO: The Sudanese government has offered an apology to Egypt for the mistreatment of four Egyptian workers at a police station in Khartoum. Sudan's Interior Minister Al-Zubair Bashir Taha apologized on behalf of his government to the Egyptian government and promised that an investigation will begin immediately. Egypt's Ambassador to Sudan Mohammed Al Shazly and General Consul Ayman Badie submitted medical certificates to Taha as evidence that four Egyptian workers had been subjected to torture with electric wires at a Khartoum police station. Sources at the Egyptian embassy in Sudan confirmed to Al-Masry Al-Youm that Khartoum state police had arrested 21 Egyptians and 9 Sudanese after a fight had erupted at a construction site. The Sudanese ambassador to Egypt Abdel-Moneim Mohammed Mabrouk had previously refuted press reports alleging that 28 Egyptian workers were beaten and tortured in by the police. A spokesperson from the Sudanese embassy who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Daily Star Egypt, "The matter is now closed. It was given more attention than it deserved. This was a fight between workers which happens everywhere. Mabrouk had earlier criticized how the story was covered by the Egyptian press, dubbing it a "sensationalist attempt to stir up public opinion and negative feelings. Nabil Abdel-Fatah, researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies had told The Daily Star Egypt that "Egypt had done something similar against Sudanese refugees in Cairo. Such incidents are detrimental to the relations between the Egyptian and Sudanese people, which are more important than political relations. He added that certain political factions in Sudan might exploit this incident for domestic gain, since all sides are at war with each other. The Ganoub Center for Human Rights stated that the workers were attacked at their place of employment. The abuse then continued in the Riyad police station. The center's statement claims that what sparked off the incident was an argument between an Egyptian worker and a Sudanese worker at a construction site. Al-Masry Al-Youm had reported that Badie said that three of the released Egyptian workers had filed a complaint the following day accusing a Sudanese policeman of assaulting them. Badie added that the incident was triggered by a group of Egyptians working for a Palestinian contractor who got into an altercation with employees of an Egyptian contractor. The residents in the area called the police who arrested many of those involved, including 21 Egyptians.
