Egypt summons EU envoys over death inquiry call

(CAIRO) - Egypt's foreign ministry summoned European Union ambassadors on Wednesday in protest at their call for an impartial inquiry into allegations that police brutally beat a man to death.

The ambassadors were told that their call in a joint statement "represented -- regardless of its contents -- a clear violation of diplomatic norms and an unacceptable interference in Egypt's internal affairs," the ministry said.

The statement issued earlier this week expressed "concern" over the June 6 death of 28-year-old Khaled Said, who rights groups say police dragged out of an Internet cafe in the port city of Alexandria and beat to death.

It also said the ambassadors looked "forward to the inquiry being conducted impartially, transparently and swiftly in a way that will credibly resolve the discrepancies."

Police say Khaled Said died after choking on a bag of drugs he tried to hide when approached by policemen.

Graphic pictures of Said's corpse, appearing to show he was beaten so badly that his jaw was dislocated and his teeth were broken, have spread on the Internet, sparking protests in Cairo and Alexandria.

The public prosecutor, Abdel Magid Mahmud, ordered a second autopsy on Said's corpse after a first one supported the police version.

He announced that the second examination showed Said died of asphyxiation after swallowing a bag of marijuana.

El-Subai Ahmed el-Subai, the head of the team which examined Said's corpse, said he died of asphyxiation but the beating he received could have caused the bag to slip into his windpipe, the official MENA news agency reported.

State media reported that an investigation by the Alexandria appeal court prosecution showed Said had choked to death, and the prosecution summoned two policemen for questioning over the death.