Egypt Orders 70 Sudanese From Border

Egypt stepped up its condemnation of Sudan on Thursday and ordered 70 Sudanese guards expelled from a disputed border region where the two countries clashed this week, while Sudan vowed on Thursday to “fight to the death” against any Egyptian incursions.

The exchange of harsh words was accompanied by President Hosni Mubarak’s assertion that the chief suspect in an attempt to assassinate him in Ethiopia on Monday is a Sudanese operating on instructions from the Khartoum government.

Ethiopia has not confirmed the arrest of the suspect, whom Egyptian officials said was wounded in the attack on Mubarak’s motorcade on Monday.

The Sudanese government described Egypt’s accusations as an irresponsible attempt to blame others for its own security problems with Muslim militants who have killed more than 700 people in the last three years. Egypt and other countries in the region have long charged that Sudan is a training ground for armed Muslim militants who are sent out to undermine secular governments.

Reports from Khartoum also said demonstrators at rallies in Sudan on Thursday were denouncing what they described as Egyptian troop movements toward Sudan’s borders with Egypt.

There was no independent confirmation on what is actually happening in the disputed triangle bordering the Red Sea, or in Khartoum.