Stowaway's American dream ends in Suez canal

IT WAS a definitely a case of being neither home nor dry. The Egyptian authorities reported yesterday that they had captured a stowaway from Georgia (the republic in the Caucasus, not the state in America) who threw himself out of a ship's hold, apparently convinced that he was hurling himself into the territorial waters of the United States.

Kheshein Zenbadi had hidden himself on board a Yemeni-owned ship sailing from the former Soviet republic to the United States. Thinking he had arrived in the land of his dreams, Mr Zenbadi threw himself overboard after the ship docked to pick up some supplies.

Alas, it was not the blue waters of the Pacific off California, or even the choppy Atlantic off America's east coast. It was the Suez canal, in Egypt. Definitely a case of bad timing.

Cairo's security forces, who last night had Mr Zenbadi in their custody, were not saying whether they would send him back home, or allow him to go free to complete the long, last leg of his journey.