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Libyan boat heading for Gaza stays on course
A Libyan aid ship stayed on course for the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday despite Israeli warnings that it will be intercepted at sea, said an organiser on board the boat."We are heading for Gaza. We will not change direction," Mashallah Zwei, a representative of the Gaddafi Foundation, a Libyan charity, told. Zwei insisted the foundation was not seeking "a confrontation or a provocation," when asked about the risks of a repeat of an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla on May 31 that killed nine Turks. "For the time being our only thought is delivering the aid to Gaza," he said. "We are supported by the international community, who, we hope, will help us reach our goal." Zwei said the boat was currently "close to Crete" and would likely reach Gaza in about two days. Israel earlier on Sunday vowed to prevent the Libyan ship from running its blockade of the Palestinian territory. "Israel will not let the boat reach Gaza," minister without portfolio Yossi Peled told Israel's public radio a day after the 92-metre (302-foot) freighter set sail from the Greek port of Lavrio, south of Athens. Allowing boats to reach Hamas-run Gaza without being checked would have "very serious consequences" for Israel's security, he said. Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the attempt to reach Gaza, which has been subjected to an Israeli naval blockade for the past four years, was an "unnecessary provocation." The ship's agent and the Greek foreign ministry had on Saturday assured Israel that the Moldova-flagged vessel, chartered by the charity run by the son of Libyan leader Mouammar Gaddafi, Saif-ul-Islam, was heading for the Egyptian port of El-Arish. Over the last few days, Israel's top diplomat Avigdor Lieberman has been talking with his counterparts in Greece and Moldova in a bid to encourage the ship to call off its mission, a statement from his office said. "The foreign ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza," it said. The Libyan mission comes six weeks after a disastrous Israeli naval raid on another aid flotilla, which left nine Turkish nationals dead and provoked a major diplomatic crisis with Ankara. Global pressure over the incident has since forced Israel to significantly change its policy on Gaza, and now it only prevents the import of arms and goods that could be used to build weapons or fortifications. Israel had even approached UN chief Ban Ki-moon with a request asking the international community "to exert its influence on the government of Libya" to prevent the ship from going to Gaza, media reports said. Posted by: Fred 2010-07-12 |
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