Egypt to put cameras on Suez Canal after shooting

Egypt to put cameras on Suez Canal after shooting


Egypt has started to install security cameras along the Suez Canal after a warning shot fired from a cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Navy killed an Egyptian trader on a motorboat, officials said on Friday.

U.S. President George W. Bush expressed his regret to Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak over the shooting on Monday.

Two other traders were wounded in the shooting, according to Egyptian security officials and witnesses. The United States initially denied reports of fatalities.

A Suez Canal Authority official told Reuters monitors will watch the traffic in the waterway through large screens at the headquarters of the authority in the coastal city of Ismailia.

"Installing these cameras will help achieve a better vision of all the movements of ships, vessels and small boats in the waterway," the official, who asked not to be named, said.

The cargo ship Global Patriot, on a short-term charter to the military, fired warning shots near the Egyptian motorboat after it ignored verbal orders and a signal flare telling it to stay away, the U.S. Navy said.

The ship was waiting to pass through the Suez Canal when the incident occurred, the Navy said.

(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed, writing by Alaa Shahine, editing by Janet Lawrence)

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