http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=35995
U.S. 5th Fleet to work with Egyptian Family Following Shooting
Story Number: NNS080326-01
Release Date: 3/26/2008 7:54:00 AM

From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has expressed regret for the death of an Egyptian citizen who died March 24, an apparent result from warning shots fired at a small boat approaching a ship chartered by the U.S. Navy.

"We express our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased," said Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff, Commander, U.S. 5th 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."

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet Command is continuing to work cooperatively with Egyptian authorities, including the Suez Canal authorities through the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, to fully investigate this incident.

"We will work through the investigation very thoroughly, coordinating with authorities and the embassy, to get a full and transparent account of what happened," Cosgriff stated.

An embarked U.S. security team on board the Navy's Military Sealift Command ship Global Patriot fired warning shots at a small boat approaching the ship as it was preparing to transit the Suez Canal Monday night at approximately 8:00 p.m. Two other boats had also approached the chartered ship but turned away following warnings from Global Patriot.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200803/20080326984607.html
傳美船艦朝埃及船隻開火釀死傷 美使館否認
法新社╱F10曹宇帆 2008-03-26 01:35     

 
（法新社開羅二十五日電）報導指稱一艘美國海軍租用的船艦，在蘇伊士運河附近朝埃及船隻開火並造成一人死亡，美國駐埃及大使館今天否認該報導，且堅稱無人受傷。

美國大使館發表聲明說：「全球愛國者號昨晚準備通過蘇伊士運河時，開火警告逼近該船艦的一艘小船。」

聲明表示：「來自全球愛國者號的初步報告指出，兩艘船隻均無人傷亡。」

美國在中東的戰艦，先前一直遭許多小型船隻騷擾或攻擊。

一名埃及安全官員告訴法新社，當數艘駁船駛近打算兜售商品時，全球愛國者號朝駁船開火，造成一人死亡和兩人受輕傷。

他說，駁船持續駛近時，在船上的美國人要求駁船停止前進並開火。這艘美國船艦從紅海出發，正在蘇伊士灣，等待航向地中海。

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/080325/8/4lyb.html
US, Egypt dispute Suez Canal shooting

Wednesday March 26, 09:29 AM

CAIRO (AFP) - US officials on Tuesday denied reports that an Egyptian was killed when a US Navy chartered ship opened fire on small boats near the Suez Canal, confirming the incident but insisting no one was hurt.

Egyptian accounts however said one man was shot dead and two other people injured on Monday when the US ship fired on barges which approached the vessel wanting to sell merchandise.

The Global Patriot "fired warning shots at a small boat approaching the ship as it was preparing to transit the Suez Canal Monday evening," a statement from the US embassy in Cairo said.

"Initial reports from the Global Patriot indicate that no casualties were sustained on either vessel."

US Ambassador to Cairo Francis Ricciardone expressed regret over the incident but said the facts needed clarification.
 
"We regret if there are victims but we have to know what really happened from both sides," Ricciardone told a meeting of businessmen in Cairo.

US warships in the Middle East have previously been harassed or attacked by small boats.

Egypt's official MENA news agency said that "an Egyptian citizen was killed and two others injured when a US military vessel opened fire at a small boat," citing preliminary reports.

A medic at Suez hospital who asked not to be named said Mohammed Moqtar Afifi was killed by one bullet. The incident occurred as the Global Patriot was in the Gulf of Suez preparing to sail to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea.

Afifi was buried in a Suez suburb on Tuesday.

The chief of US Navy operations Admiral Gary Roughead said the leader of the US Navy security team had authority to respond and that the incident was under investigation.

He said the navy had no information to support Egyptian allegations that one person was killed and two others injured in the shooting.

"In the judgement of the on scene commander, the responses were such that led to the warning shots. Warning shots were fired," Roughead told reporters in Washington.

He said the navy commonly places security detachments aboard merchant vessels chartered by the US Military Sealift Command to move military cargo around the world.

Despite being protected by the US military, the ship had no obvious military markings, an AFP correspondent said, and on Tuesday was continuing its trip across the Suez Canal.

The embassy said the boats were "warned by a native Arabic speaker using a bullhorn to warn them to turn away. A warning flare was then fired."

"One small boat continued to approach the ship and received two sets of warning shots 20-30 yards (metres) in front of the bow. All shots were accounted for as they entered the water."

The embassy said the US Navy's Fifth Fleet Command, based in Manama, "is cooperating fully with Egyptian authorities, including the Suez Canal Authority and other local authorities."

A Fifth Fleet statement said the Global Patriot "fired warning shots at a small boat approaching the vessel, following multiple warnings to turn away, according to reports from the embarked US Navy security team.

"There were no reports from the Global Patriot of casualties," it said.

"These were tracer bullets, they can actually see the warning shots go out and 20 metres in front of the (Egyptian) ship is quite a way," Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Nathan Christensen told AFP.

In January, Iranian speedboats approached three US warships in the Strait of Hormuz and the order was given to open fire but they turned away at the last minute, according to US reports.

In 2000, waterborne Al-Qaeda militants carried out a suicide attack on the American warship USS Cole, killing 17 sailors.

According to the website of the US Navy's Military Sealift Command, the MV Global Patriot is a roll-on roll-off transport ship chartered from Global Container Lines.

The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers and currently about 7.5 percent of global trade passes through the waterway.

It is also a key route for the US military to carry weapons, supplies and troops to and from the Gulf, in particular Kuwait and Iraq.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200803/20080325982487.html
阻止埃及船販靠攏不成　美軍艦開槍射殺一人
法新社╱張仲琬 2008-03-25 08:05     

（法新社開羅二十五日電）埃及安全部門消息人士說，一艘準備通過埃及蘇伊士運河的美國軍艦，今天向靠攏的船販開火，造成一名埃及民眾死亡，兩人受傷。

消息來源指出，這艘名為「全球愛國者」的軍艦，自紅海抵達蘇伊士運河。然而，船艦在蘇伊士灣等待航向地中海時，一群兜售雜貨的埃及船販逐漸駛近。

船上美軍要求駁船停止前進，並在阻止不成時開火。

槍擊事件發生後，數艘駁船立即集結蘇伊士運河抗議，不過稍後即被驅散，運河又恢復通暢。這些船販平日均在運河上兜售雜貨。

美國海軍「軍事海運指揮部」的網站資料顯示，全球愛國者號為駛進駛出型運輸船，是向全球貨櫃公司包租。

安全部門的消息來源表示，這艘船原定在明天上午六時通過蘇伊士運河。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080328/wl_mideast_afp/egyptsuezmaritimesecurity_080328183735
Egypt instals surveillance cameras after Suez killing

Fri Mar 28, 2:37 PM ET

ISMAILIYA, Egypt (AFP) - Egypt has begun installing surveillance cameras to monitor traffic through the strategic Suez Canal after the killing of an Egyptian by a US Navy-chartered ship last week, an official told AFP on Friday.

The cameras, in addition to a radar system already deployed in the region, "will provide for closer surveillance of the canal and a better view" of maritime traffic, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Mohammed Moqtar Afifi was killed on Monday when the "Global Patriot" transport vessel chartered by the US Navy fired warning shots at a small boat trying to sell merchandise, as it waited to transit the Suez Canal.

US President George W. Bush called his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on Thursday to express regret over the incident, in which two other Egyptians were wounded.

The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers, and currently about 7.5 percent of global trade passes through the waterway.

The canal is also a key supply line for the US military in the Gulf, in particular Kuwait, and in Iraq.