US aircraft carrier crosses Suez Canal amid tight security
Egypt Independent Sat, 01/12/2012 - 16:02
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/us-aircraft-carrier-crosses-suez-canal-amid-tight-security

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower nuclear aircraft carrier, accompanied by a
frigate, crossed the Suez Canal on Saturday morning coming from the Red Sea,
in the South, on their way to the Mediterranean Sea, an official source at
the Suez Canal Authority told Anadolu news agency.

The official said that the nuclear carrier, with a tonnage of 113 tons,
crossed the Suez Canal accompanied by a military combat piece after
completing a mission off of the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf and the
Arabian Sea.

The carrier crossed the canal amid tight security, and traffic was banned on
canal crossings and the Suez Canal Bridge.

An Egyptian military aircraft flew over the carrier to secure the crossing
process, which lasted for about 15 hours.

Nearly 4,000 American officers, sailors and pilots are on board the carrier,
as well as F-18s equipped with bombs and missiles with multiple capacities.

The United States is heavily reinforcing its military potential in the
Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The US has previously vowed to
confront Iran in the event of Iran blocking the Straits of Hormuz, which it
threatened to do after the international community imposed sanctions on the
country as a response to its nuclear program.