Canada asks Israel to check report of ship attack

[Minstrel Boy]

Canada asks Israel to check report of ship attack

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Friday he has asked the Israeli Foreign Ministry to investigate an unconfirmed report that a ship carrying Canadians from Lebanon was attacked, as evacuees started arriving by the planeload in Montreal and Ottawa.

MacKay said he has no way to independently verify the report of an attack because the ship is still in the water between Beirut and Cyprus.

He again defended the government's response in getting Canadians out of the country, indicating that there was competition among countries for available ships, with many of them not normally intended for transporting people.

"We are trying to maximize the capacity each and every day, but there are logistical challenges," he said. "We are half a world away, we have no military assets to speak of in the region, as do other countries. We don't have the ability to load up 5,000 people on an aircraft carrier.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/21/evacuees-home.html


Report of Attack on Canadians Unconfirmed

OTTAWA (AP) - Canada asked the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Friday about an unconfirmed report that a ship ferrying Canadians from Lebanon had been attacked.

The Israeli military told The Associated Press there was no report of any Israeli firing from the sea, land or air off the Lebanese coast. It also said Israeli forces had not picked up any distress calls from ships off Lebanon.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay was asked by reporters in Ottawa whether he had heard reports that a vessel had been fired upon by Israeli forces and that there were some injuries.

``The rumor that I've heard is similar, that there may have been firing on, or a fire on, a Canadian boat,'' MacKay said. ``Upon hearing this, we immediately made calls to the Israeli Foreign Ministry for confirmation. We have not been able to get confirmation.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5966952,00.html

[The Magistrate]

1. As Mr. MacKay Says, Sir

There is no verification the vessel was attacked at all, so it would be most unwise to get too far out ahead in speculation over who sttacked it and why....

[Minstrel Boy]

2. Did I editorialize to suggest I was? n/t

[daleo]

3. The denials seem rather weak so far

My hunch is that this will turn out to have basis in fact.

On edit - If this does turn out to be true, Harper will be in big political trouble.

[regnaD kciN]

4. Let's wait and see...

...what those on the ship say happened.

[daleo]

5. Yes, the truth is out there

Although you can expect obfuscation, if this is true.

[The Magistrate]

6. It Will Indeed, Sir, Be Interesting To Learn The Facts

[CHIMO]

19. Yes It Would

Sir.

However, if one takes unnamed officials as official word, then one should hang up their wig.

[Spazito]

7. This is odd, imo...

"...that there may have been firing on, or a fire on, a Canadian boat"

Is he saying the rumour may relate to a fire on a Canadian boat rather than the Canadian boat being fired upon? Or does he mean on one shot was fired versus multiple shot? Whatever he meant, he sure didn't add any clarity to the issue, imo.

[daleo]

9. Lots of people must have cell phones

The ship would have radios. I don't see why it is so difficult to get details, unless the event is catastrophic (and I am not implying that it is).

I think people in Ottawa are working on damage control, of the message variety. I almost feel slightly sorry for McKay. He gets hung out to dry, and Harper gets the warm and fuzzy photo ops.

[Spazito]

10. Yes, that is certainly possible, even probable

If this turns out to be true, Harper will be in DEEP trouble, imo, and he is in enough already. I hope it is not true, there are thousands of stranded citizens from so many countries still in Lebanon waiting for evacuation by ship. If ships are being shot at, the last avenue of escape will be gone.

[The Magistrate]

8. From The Current CBC Link

Meanwhile, Canadian officials say the explosion of a fire extinguisher aboard a ship carrying Canadians from Lebanon to Cyprus may have been the source of a rumour that the vessel was fired upon by Israeli forces.

MacKay had asked Israel about the incident, and the Israeli ambassador in Ottawa, Alan Baker, said there had been no attacks on ships in the region.

[daleo]

11. It will be interesting to hear the passenger reports

I would tend to put more credence in what multiple witnesses have to say, once they get a chance. This story could be a cover story for some stray firing. If nothing else, it implies that there aren't any substantial casualties.

[Spazito]

12. I would need more than Canadian officials, aka our government's

"may have beens" before I can rest easy. I hope that is, indeed, the case but our current government has a nasty habit of obfuscating the facts if they are not beneficial to their polls, sadly.

It certainly would not benefit either Israel or the Hizbollah, if they had the ability, to shell evacuees' ships so I am hoping it as the CBC link states.

[The Magistrate]

13. Since In Your View It Would Benefit Neither, Ma'am

Why suppose it was the case that one did?

[daleo]

14. I will put in a word, if I may

In my case, the fact that this rumor quickly made it into both the CBC and Guardian websites made me think there may well have been something to it. The CBC doesn't generally report baseless rumors, nor does the Guardian, especially this quickly. Therefore, it seemed reasonable to suspect that it had some basis in fact.

Mistakes happen, so either side could have fired on a non-combatant ship (the U.S.S. Liberty is a case in point, as is the Iranian airliner shot down by the U.S. Navy). Either side could have also wanted to foment something, with a bit of mischief.

As always, every rule has its exceptions.

[The Magistrate]

16. The Way It Arrived There, Sir

Was in relating what reporters asked an official. That is hardly the result of any process of vetting. it is more a human interest story of the "stupid humnan tricks" variety: look what somebody asked the Minister....

[daleo]

17. The CBC website can be quite slow on these matters

It took a surprisingly long time for the deaths of the 8 Canadians in southern Lebanon to be reported this Sunday, for example. CNN, BBC, etc. all had it hours before the CBC, which I found rather embarrassing for the CBC. So, as I say, their quick reporting seemed unusual, as if something must have happened. Time will tell though.

[The Magistrate]

18. That It Will, Sir

[Spazito]

15. I suppose nothing, sir, as I thought I was making clear, obviously not

successfully. I do not trust the word of my government, given their stance on this crisis, I do not trust the Israeli position on this either nor would I trust, were they to have been involved, the position of Hizbollah. Because I, merely an observer to the crisis, cannot see any benefit does not mean, in fact, there may not be one, sir.

We will not know for sure until the passengers from the ship are able to tell their first-hand, non-politicized accounts. Until then, I suspend judgment on what the facts may be.

[daleo]

20. Here's another story on this:

Fire extinguisher explodes aboard Canadian evacuee ship

By The Associated Press

A fire extinguisher exploded aboard one of the ships ferrying Canadian evacuees from Lebanon to Cyprus, Canadian officials said Friday, quashing rumors that the vessel had been fired upon by Israeli or Hezbollah forces.

Ambra Dickey, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman in Ottawa, said the Canadian delegation in Cyprus confirmed that the explosion on board the the Larnaca, Cyprus bound Blue Dawn was not due to any missile or artillery attack, but a faulty extinguisher aboard the ship. There were no reports of injuries.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said he had asked the Israeli foreign ministry about an unconfirmed report that the boat had been fired upon.

The Israel Defense Forces told The Associated Press there was no report of any Israeli firing from the sea, land or air off the Lebanese coast. It also said the IDF had not picked up any distress calls from ships off Lebanon.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741388.html

We will see if witnesses on the ship agree with this account in the coming days. I don't think a fire extinguisher would actually "explode" in the sense of rapid combustion, although a chemical extinguisher under high pressure that was punctured might appear to be exploding.

[Lisa]

21. perhaps reports were mixed with another story about ships being stopped

The CBC, when reporting on the late arrival of the first boatload of Canadians in Cyprus, mentioned that the ship had been halted twice by Israeli vessels en route. Early reports about the alleged attack might have been confused with this other situation (which would also be interesting to learn more about, if Israel had supposedly already promised safe passage out of the area?).

[daleo]

22. Yes, I read that the trip for Harper's photo-op was difficult

And that the evacuees were supposed to go to Turkey (as the rest of the Canadians are supposed to), but were sent to Cyprus for the Laureen and Steve fashion show.