Israeli officials are trying to sift the causes of a riot in an Egyptian prisoner-of-war camp Tuesday in which one POW was killed. It was disclosed today that Israeli MPs opened fire only at the last moment when their lives were threatened by POWs armed with front bars and bottles. The body of the dead POW will be returned to Egypt tomorrow. Unrest has been growing recently at the camp which houses Egyptian and Syrian POWs, it was learned today.
Israeli sources said it was due to the refusal of the Egyptians to believe Red Cross representatives who told them that Egypt refuses to exchange II Israeli POWs for them. Israeli sources said the Egyptian and Syrian POWs were treated as long term detainees and were given whatever facilities possible to make their detention less unpleasant. These include radios and television sets in their barracks, permission to wear civilian clothes and occasional tours of the countryside.
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