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Africa North
Tight security around QE2 cruise liner after threat
2006-04-12
CAIRO - Police in boats and on the quay guarded the Queen Elizabeth 2 as it docked in the north Egyptian port of Alexandria on Thursday after a security threat against the British-built cruise liner. The ship’s owners, Cunard, and Britain’s Transport Department said in separate statements Tuesday they had received “information concerning the security” of the Queen Elizabeth 2, but they declined to disclose the type of threat.
I'm guessing it's not iceburgs
“We believe there is no cause for alarm,” said Julie Benson, the US-based director of public relations for Cunard. “As a precaution, we have placed the ship on to a higher level of security as it passes through this area.” “We treat all such information very seriously and the United Kingdom, United States and Egyptian security authorities have been kept fully informed,” said Benson in a statement issued in Miami, Florida.

Police boats followed the QE2 as it sailed northwards through the Suez Canal on Tuesday. And police guarded the ship Thursday on land and water when it berthed in Alexandria harbor for the day, Egyptian police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press. The shipÂ’s passengers were allowed to disembark in Alexandria for sight-seeing. The port is within three hoursÂ’ drive of the pyramids outside Cairo.

The 70,300-ton liner was launched in 1967 and carries up to 1,750 passengers and 1,000 crew. In 1972 a security threat against the QE2 led to British bomb disposal specialists parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean next to the ship. The threat turned out to be a hoax.
Posted by:Steve

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