CAIRO/MANAMA: The US expressed regret over the shooting of an Egyptian near the Suez Canal by a cargo ship chartered by the US navy.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Egypt is upset with the incident on Wednesday.
US President George W. Bush called President Hosni Mubarak Thursday to express regret over the Suez killing, a White House official said.
“President Bush expressed his deep regret and sympathies for the incident in the Suez Canal and said the United States will fully investigate this, White House national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
The Middle East News Agency quoted Aboul Gheit as saying in Egypt’s first official response to the shooting that the dead man’s rights should be protected, likely indicating he expects the US to pay compensation.
The US Fifth Fleet promised in a statement to follow up with the investigation and to take care of the victim’s family.
”Egyptian ports are not open fields for gunfire,” MENA quoted Aboul Gheit as saying Wednesday evening in Luxembourg. ”We are upset by this incident, which is unacceptable, and we are waiting to see the results of the military prosecutor to get a complete idea of what happened.”
Mohamed Fouad Afifi, the victim, was buried on Tuesday, but Egypt ordered Suez officials to retrieve his body the following day for forensic analysis, said security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The Global Patriot, a civilian ship under short term contract to the US Navy, entered the Suez Canal Monday. According to official American sources, the ship was approached by several boats while preparing to transit the Suez Canal. The boats were hailed and warned by a native Arabic speaker using a bullhorn to warn them to turn away and the onboard navy security later fired warning shots.
Relatives of the casualties refuted the American version of events, with Afifi’s brother Mahmoud saying that they were on their way back and that the ship fired randomly at three boats without prior warning. Sailors of nearby boats later confirmed they hadn’t seen any warning flares.
Over 50 MPs delivered angry statements to the government at the People’s Assembly Tuesday, demanding a full and swift investigation. But some of them are skeptical that the government will take adequate action.
The Egyptian boat might have been getting close in a way that wasn t comfortable for the Americans, but this is not a reason to open fire inside Egypt territorial waters, inside or outside the port, Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying.
There are rights for the [slain] Egyptian citizen we ought to protect, he added.
We express our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased, said Vice Admiral Kevin J Cosgriff, commander of the US Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. We are greatly saddened by events that apparently resulted in this accidental death. This situation is tragic, and we will do our utmost to help take care of the family of the deceased, he added in a statement. The US State Department on Wednesday also described as regrettable the incident and said it was under investigation.
We will work through the investigation very thoroughly, coordinating with authorities and the [US] embassy [in Cairo], to get a full account of what happened, Cosgriff said.
Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Nathan Christensen said relatives of the dead man would be compensated.
The relatives will receive money, Christensen told AFP. I can t speculate on how long that will take.
The US Navy has been very careful about the activities of small boats near its warships ever since an Al-Qaeda attack by an explosives-packed motorboat on the USS Cole in Yemen killed 17 sailors in 2000.
The waterborne merchants that ply the canal selling cigarettes and other products to passing shipping normally know not to approach military vessels, but the Global Patriot had no markings distinguishing it from other civilian cargo ships.
On Jan. 6, US Navy ships nearly opened fire on armed Iranian speedboats that repeatedly charged their convoy in the cramped waters of the Persian Gulf s Strait of Hormuz. – With agencies
