Suez Canal 'completely secure': Egypt 3rd Army commander

SUEZ (AA) – General Osama Askar, commander of Egypt's Third Army, declared on Thursday that the Suez Canal was "completely secure" and that "no one can harm it."

Askar made the comments while conducting a routine inspection of Egypt's Third Army, which is stationed in the city of Suez on the canal's southern entrance.

Last month, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) – which oversees maritime traffic through the strategic waterway – claimed that "terrorists" had carried out a botched attempt to attack a ship as it passed through the canal.

The attack did not cause any damage to the ship, according to SCA officials.

To prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the Egyptian military had earlier removed huts and trees from the banks of the canal.

Meanwhile, a military source in Suez revealed that the forces tasked with securing the waterway had been equipped with high-tech devices to allow them to monitor traffic both to and from the Sinai Peninsula.

The source added that there was "close cooperation" between the Egyptian military and Bedouin tribes on both the eastern and western banks of the canal.

The Suez Canal has traditionally represented one of Egypt's main revenue sources, accounting for as much as 10 percent of the country's total foreign currency earnings.

by Sayed Noon 

englishnews@aa.com.tr