Fire Extinguisher Blamed in Attack Report

**another LIBERTY incident?**

Fire Extinguisher Blamed in Attack Report

The Associated Press
Friday, July 21, 2006; 6:01 PM

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OTTAWA -- A fire extinguisher exploded aboard one of the ships ferrying Canadian evacuees from Lebanon to Cyprus Friday, Canadian officials said, denying rumors that the vessel had been attacked.

Canadian diplomats in Cyprus confirmed that the explosion was not due to any attack but to a fire extinguisher aboard the Blue Dawn, which was heading to Larnaca, Cyprus, said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Ambra Dickey in Ottawa. There were no reports of injuries.

There was no immediate word on the seriousness of the blast or how it occurred.

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.

**just as there was no Israeli fire with the LIBERTY, just like they weren't firing when that shell hit the beach and wiped out a little girl's family**

Canada, which had 38,626 people registered at its embassy in Beirut on Friday, has been bombarded with criticism over its chaotic and slow evacuation efforts. Foreign Affairs officials said it had evacuated 2,413 people from Beirut by the end of the day Friday.

MacKay said the criticism was unwarranted and reminded reporters that it would likely become the country's largest emergency exodus from another country.