By Xinhua
Cairo : Egypt’s Shura Council (upper house of the parliament) Monday denounced the killing of an Egyptian civilian by shots from a U.S. Navy chartered ship last week at Suez Port.
The incident was rejected and deplored at all levels, the official MENA news agency quoted Shura Council Speaker Safwat el-Sherif as saying.
The government should have banned the U.S. ship from sailing through the Suez Canal and interrogated the perpetrators, Shura Council members said.
The lawmakers expected the government would do everything possible to protect Egyptian sovereignty and the rights of Egyptian people.
“Egyptian sovereignty over the Suez Canal is a red line that cannot be crossed,” said Mohammed Bassyouni, head of the Shura Council Arab and Foreign Affairs and National Security Committee.
“We are still awaiting for the outcome of Egyptian and U.S. investigations into the Suez shooting incident before an official Egyptian stance is announced,” said Bassyouni.
On March 24, an Egyptian was killed and two others injured when “Global Patriot”, a ship on short term charter to the U.S. Navy, fired warning shots at an approaching small boat as the ship was about to transit the Suez Canal.
U.S. President George W. Bush in a telephone conversation on Thursday expressed regret to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for the killing of the Egyptian, hoping the tragic incident would not affect the friendly relations between the two countries.
After the incident, the Suez Canal Authority has taken measures to enhance the security system by installing radars and cameras to monitor the international waterway.