3 Suspects in Mubarak Attack Die in Ethiopia : Africa: Shootout followed gunmen’s refusal to surrender, police say. Egyptians seek to cool tiff with Sudan.

Security forces stormed a hide-out Saturday, killing three men suspected of trying to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, according to TV and radio reports.

Ethiopian soldiers and police tracked the suspects to a house in eastern Addis Ababa, about 1 1/2 miles from the spot near the international airport where Mubarak’s motorcade was attacked Monday, according to the reports.

The men apparently had left their getaway vehicle parked in front of the house.

Saturday’s reports on Ethiopian TV showed soldiers and police jumping from rooftop to rooftop around the house while firing rocket-propelled grenades into the building. It also showed pictures of the dead gunmen and quoted security officials as saying all three were of Arab origin. No other identifying information was given.

Witnesses said the shootout lasted two hours. Security forces had surrounded the building and ordered those inside to surrender, but instead the suspects opened fire, according to the radio reports. The gunmen were armed with AK-47 rifles and hand grenades.

Two security officers were injured in the shootout.

Ethiopian government officials say between seven and nine gunmen were involved in the assassination attempt. Two gunmen were killed during the attack.

Without citing proof, Mubarak has named Sheik Hassan Turabi, an Islamic leader widely regarded as the power behind Sudan’s government, as the mastermind.

Turabi and Sudanese leaders have denied any role, blaming the attack on Egyptian militants waging an Islamic revolt against the Cairo government.

Egyptian investigators who traveled to Ethiopia say 13 people, including three Ethiopian security men and some Sudanese intelligence agents, were involved in the plot.

Mubarak’s accusation against Sudan set off a war of words between the two countries that escalated into clashes in a disputed border area that left three Sudanese soldiers dead.

But remarks by a top adviser to Mubarak on Saturday appeared intended to dispel the growing threat between the neighbors--though they did little to soften the rhetoric.

Osama Baz, Mubarak’s chief political adviser, told Egyptian television that Egypt “would not carry out any military operations against Sudan even if there were some official or semi-official factions involved in the failed attempt on President Mubarak.”

Foreign Minister Amir Moussa also ruled out military action, saying it was never an option. But he said legal and political measures could be taken if a Sudanese role was uncovered.

Baz’s remark did little to ease the rhetoric in Khartoum.

A van with a loudspeaker rambled through the Sudanese capital and urged residents to gather Monday for a demonstration against the “arrogance of Mubarak.”