Hundreds of Egyptian Sinai Bedouin massed at the border with Israel on Thursday seeking entry to Israel a day after two Bedouin men died in a police chase, security sources and witnesses said.

The security sources said Egyptian police were monitoring the tribesmen from a distance but had not approached them, as a significant number of them were armed.

The massing at the border came a day after many Bedouin took to the streets and set fire to dozens of tires in anger over the death of two Sinai Bedouin men on Wednesday in a chase with Egyptian police.

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Security sources said the two men had exchanged fire with police after driving through a checkpoint in a pick-up truck with no license plates.

Tribal sources said the Bedouin headed to the border fearing a police crackdown and a wave of arrests after Wednesday's deaths and protests. One tribal sheikh who asked not to be named said the Bedouin came from several tribes and had been seeking entry into Israel since dawn.

Security sources described the decision to try to seek entry into Israel as an attempt by the Bedouin to embarrass the Egyptian government.

Bedouin in 1999 managed to illegally cross the border into Israel after disagreements with other tribes and requested political asylum there, but were returned to Egypt.

Egypt blamed a series of bombings in Sinai, the last of which took place in April 2006, on a local Islamist group which they say is made up of Sinai Bedouin with militant views.

Security sweeps have since focused heavily on Sinai's Bedouins. Human rights groups say Egypt detained up to 2,500 people for questioning after the bombings, and that many were subjected to torture. Egypt denies this.

In January, the International Crisis Group said Egypt must tackle political and socio-economic problems in Sinai if it hopes to end militancy there.