<p>UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned a deadly ambush in Egypt's North Sinai, in which militants killed 25 policemen.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The secretary general strongly condemns the latest ambush in the Sinai on two mini-buses which killed 25 Egyptian police officers," Xinhua quoted a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson as saying.<br /><br />The UN chief expressed hope that "the perpetrators will be swiftly identified and brought to justice".<br /><br />Militants Monday ambushed two buses carrying police recruits from their base in North Sinai's Rafah city to their homes for a vacation. At least 25 policemen were killed and three wounded.<br /><br />State news agency MENA said the militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the two buses. The gunmen forced the policemen to leave the bus and told them to stand in a line, and then shot them.<br /><br />The UN chief also said he was "deeply disturbed" by the reported deaths of 36 prisoners in police custody Sunday as they were being transferred from one facility to another.<br />Ban called for a full investigation to this incident, the statement said.<br /><br />A total of 36 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails, died in a riot when they were being transferred to a jail Sunday.<br /><br />Morsi was ousted by the army in July after only a year in office. The constitution was suspended and an interim government was established, as protests by Morsi's supporters turned violent across the country.<br /><br />Last week, security forces cleared two camps of Morsi supporters in Cairo, and at least 866 people have been killed across the country since then, the health ministry said.<br /><br />"With such sharp polarisation in Egyptian society, both the authorities and the political leaders share the responsibility for ending the current violence. They should spare no effort to swiftly adopt a credible plan to contain the violence and revive the political process," Ban said.<br /><br />He said UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman would hold discussions this week in Cairo "with a focus on how the United Nations can best support initiatives to restore peace and forge reconciliation in Egypt".</p>
<p>UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned a deadly ambush in Egypt's North Sinai, in which militants killed 25 policemen.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"The secretary general strongly condemns the latest ambush in the Sinai on two mini-buses which killed 25 Egyptian police officers," Xinhua quoted a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson as saying.<br /><br />The UN chief expressed hope that "the perpetrators will be swiftly identified and brought to justice".<br /><br />Militants Monday ambushed two buses carrying police recruits from their base in North Sinai's Rafah city to their homes for a vacation. At least 25 policemen were killed and three wounded.<br /><br />State news agency MENA said the militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the two buses. The gunmen forced the policemen to leave the bus and told them to stand in a line, and then shot them.<br /><br />The UN chief also said he was "deeply disturbed" by the reported deaths of 36 prisoners in police custody Sunday as they were being transferred from one facility to another.<br />Ban called for a full investigation to this incident, the statement said.<br /><br />A total of 36 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails, died in a riot when they were being transferred to a jail Sunday.<br /><br />Morsi was ousted by the army in July after only a year in office. The constitution was suspended and an interim government was established, as protests by Morsi's supporters turned violent across the country.<br /><br />Last week, security forces cleared two camps of Morsi supporters in Cairo, and at least 866 people have been killed across the country since then, the health ministry said.<br /><br />"With such sharp polarisation in Egyptian society, both the authorities and the political leaders share the responsibility for ending the current violence. They should spare no effort to swiftly adopt a credible plan to contain the violence and revive the political process," Ban said.<br /><br />He said UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman would hold discussions this week in Cairo "with a focus on how the United Nations can best support initiatives to restore peace and forge reconciliation in Egypt".</p>