CAIRO: The owner of a Red Sea ferry which caught fire and sank in February with the loss of over 1,000 lives said in an interview that he would come back to Egypt from Britain to face trial on negligence charges. I will return and appear in court accompanied by my son because I trust the integrity of the Egyptian judiciary, Mamdouh Ismail said in the interview, published in the government newspaper Al-Gomhuriah on Thursday. Ismail left for Britain after the Al Salam 98 ferry disaster and the Egyptian authorities have asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for him. A Red Sea court began trying him, his son and four others on Monday. He is accused of manslaughter through failure to immediately inform the authorities when he learnt of a problem on board the ferry, which caught fire shortly after leaving the Saudi port of Daba en route for Safaga in Egypt. The ship sailed on as the crew battled the fire and does not appear to have sent a distress signal to the maritime authorities. The Egyptian government did not learn of the disaster until hours after the ferry had sunk. Ismail denied the charges against him and described the sinking of the ferry as an act of God. Nobody contacted me or the company. This is not just what I say but what was proved in the recordings in the black box ... The captain was anxious not to inform the company and this is something strange and surprising, he said. Ismail gave no date for his return to Egypt but said he was waiting for his health to improve and to meet unspecified private commitments. The Egyptian government said this week that Ismail has transferred LE 330 million ($57 million) into a compensation fund for victims run by a state prosecutor. Prosecutor Gaber Rihan said that in return for the money he has lifted a freeze on the assets of Ismail and his family. Reuters
