Asian aid ship sets sail with Gaza aid
AFP
DAMASCUS- An aid ship carrying goods for the blockaded Gaza Strip and backed by Asian activists has set sail from the Syrian port of Latakia for Egypt, a Palestinian official said in Damascus on Sunday.
Khaled Abdel-Majid, a spokesman for Palestinian groups based in Syria, told AFP that the boat had left Latakia on Saturday, and was en route to the the Egyptian port of al-Arish, where the aid would be off-loaded for transportation overland to Gaza.
He said that 112 activists had arrived in Egypt on Sunday to link up with the aid convoy.
Several Asian charity organisations, mainly from India, were behind the initiative, Abdel-Majid had said earlier.
A dozen activists would be on board the "Salam" ("Peace" in Arabic), from Asian countries that included Iran, Japan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he had said.
"The ship has been the target of Israeli provocations" since sailing into international waters, Abdel-Majid said on Sunday.
"The Israeli naval vessels have questioned the captain about the nature of the aid (on board)," Abdel-Majid said, adding that some of the activists on board had also been questioned.
"We are watching it (the ship) very closely," an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP in Jerusalem, without giving further details.
The boat is carrying one million dollars (760,000 euros) worth of medicine, foodstuffs and toys as well as four buses and 10 power generators for hospitals, Abdel-Majid said.
Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since Palestinian groups captured one of its soldiers in June 2006.
It reinforced it a year later after the Islamists Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave following deadly fighting with Fatah, faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Israel eased the blockade after its May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships that killed nine Turkish activists and drew international condemnation.
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Several Asian charity organisations, mainly from India, were behind the initiative, Abdel-Majid had said earlier.
A dozen activists would be on board the "Salam" ("Peace" in Arabic), from Asian countries that included Iran, Japan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he had said.
"The ship has been the target of Israeli provocations" since sailing into international waters, Abdel-Majid said on Sunday.
"The Israeli naval vessels have questioned the captain about the nature of the aid (on board)," Abdel-Majid said, adding that some of the activists on board had also been questioned.
"We are watching it (the ship) very closely," an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP in Jerusalem, without giving further details.
The boat is carrying one million dollars (760,000 euros) worth of medicine, foodstuffs and toys as well as four buses and 10 power generators for hospitals, Abdel-Majid said.
Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since Palestinian groups captured one of its soldiers in June 2006.
It reinforced it a year later after the Islamists Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave following deadly fighting with Fatah, faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Israel eased the blockade after its May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships that killed nine Turkish activists and drew international condemnation.
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