PORT SAID - Unidentified men shot dead an army officer on Thursday in Egypt's northeastern city of Port Said, security sources said on Friday. The officer was standing at a checkpoint alongside policemen when a car and a truck refused to stop and their passengers fired rifles into the air and then at the checkpoint, the sources said. Mahmoud was wounded and was dead on arrival at hospital, the sources said. Egypt's security has been lax since its police forces withdrew from the streets on January 28, fearing attacks by citizens still angry over clashes between demonstrators and security forces. The popular protests forced the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on February11 and his temporary replacement by the Army. The Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawi said on Thursday that police had returned to work across the country and apologised for past violations on the part of some elements of the police apparatus.
