Israel denies hand in Sinai motorcyclist’s death

Egyptian news source Dunia Al-Watan attributed to Israel the death of Ibrahim Awaydat Nasr, a terrorist accused of taking part in an ambush from Sinai of an Israeli bus on Aug. 18, 2011, in which eight Israelis and three Egyptian soldiers died. That source alleged the motorcyclist was struck by a missile fired from an Israel plane near the Israeli-Egyptian border. The Egyptian daily Al-Masry al-Youm quoted Egyptian security sources as attributing it to explosives in the man’s possession or a mine. DEBKAfile’s military sources commented: If it was a targeted killing, Israel had no hand in it. “We don’t operate 30 km inside Egyptian territory.”