Bush apologizes to Egyptian leader for killing

According to White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, Bush pledged the United States would fully investigate the incident, which occurred late Monday. The ship, the Global Patriot, was under a short-term contract with the Navy’s Military Sealift Command and was returning from Kuwait after delivering armored vehicles for U.S. troops.

“President Bush expressed his deep regret and sympathies for the incident in the Suez Canal and said the United States would fully investigate this,” Johndroe said to reporters aboard Air Force One, according to a White House transcript.

The Navy has said it will provide compensation to the man’s family.

The incident took place when several small boats of Egyptian vendors approached the Global Patriot. Sailors aboard the ship broadcasted warnings, but one of the ships continued toward the vessel.

At least two sets of warning shots were fired. Twenty-eight-year-old Muhammad Fouad Afifi, a licensed seller of cigarettes and antiques, was struck and killed.