Iraq apologizes to Egypt for storming into Egyptian consulate in Baghdad

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry Friday said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has officially apologized to Egypt for breaking into the Egyptian consulate in Baghdad, the official news agency MENA reported.

The report quoted Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alaa el- Hadidi as saying that Zebari "blamed the incident on irresponsible people" and the Iraqi authorities conducted an immediate probe into the incident.

Zebari said terrorists and militiamen were taking shelter at remote diplomatic places from Iraqi security forces, according to MENA.

MENA said in a Wednesday report that the Egyptian consulate had been evacuated a long time ago and there were no document in the building.

A leading Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday that Iraqi-U.S. troops broke into the Egyptian consulate in Baghdad on Monday in an excuse of pursuit of sniper hidden in the building.

Source: Xinhua