Libyan Aid Boat Aims To Reach Gaza

[GUNNER]

Libyan Aid Boat Aims To Reach Gaza

TRIPOLI, July 12, 2010 (AFP) - A Libyan aid ship headed for Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade aims to reach the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, the Kadhafi Foundation organising the mission said on Monday.

"The foundation's team on the vessel has said morale on board is high and that they are preparing to enter Gaza on Wednesday," the charity run by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, said on its website.

It said that by midday on Monday the boat was in international waters some 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the Greek island of Crete.
Amid a flurry of Israeli diplomatic efforts to divert it to Egypt, the 92-metre (302-foot) freighter Amalthea set sail from the Greek port of Lavrio on Saturday.

Israel insists on enforcing its four-year Gaza blockade to keep weapons out of the territory run by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

"We are not transporting arms of suspect goods. We only have food, medicine and young pacifists on the boat," Mashallah Zwei, a Kadhafi Foundation representative on board, told AFP by satellite phone.

"The Israelis can inspect the ship and if they have an ounce of humanity they will let us unload in Gaza," said Zwei, urging the international community to pressure the Jewish state to allow the aid through.

Zwei has 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 that killed nine Turks.

But Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said the aid could be delivered through Ashdod port in southern Israel after being inspected, or through Egypt.

"We recommend that the organisers either let the ship be escorted by navy vessels to Ashdod port or that is sails directly to the port of El-Arish" in Egypt near the border with Gaza, he said.

Amalthea's agent and the Greek foreign ministry had on Saturday assured Israel that the Moldova-flagged vessel was heading for El-Arish, but the organisers have denied a change of plans.

The ship is loaded with 2,000 tonnes of foodstuff and medications and a crew comprising six Libyans, a Moroccan, a Nigerian and an Algerian, according to the foundation.

Libya's official news agency JANA on Monday also announced that a convoy of 20 trucks would leave the country bound for Gaza next week loaded with food, medicine and school equipment.

 

[GUNNER]

TRIPOLI, July 13, 2010 (AFP) - Israeli authorities have given a Gaza-bound Libyan aid ship an ultimatum of midnight on Tuesday to change course, in a radio contact with the vessel, an organiser of the mission on board said.

"Israeli authorities have given us until midnight tonight to change course and head to the (Egyptian) port of El-Arish, otherwise they are threatening to intercept the boat with their navy," Mashallah Zwei said.

Zwei, a member of the Kadhafi Foundation charity which organised the shipment, told AFP by satellite phone that the Israelis were told the request would be "studied before a response is given."

The latest attempt to run Israel's naval blockade on Gaza comes six weeks after a deadly Israeli naval raid in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

"The Israelis contacted us and threatened to send their warships to intercept the boat and escort it toward the (Israeli) port of Ashdod if we do not change course," Zwei said earlier.

"We explained to the Israeli authorities that our original destination was Gaza and that we are not here for a provocation," said Zwei, whose foundation is run by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam.

"We also specified that we are transporting only foodstuffs and medicines and we asked them to let us discharge our cargo in Gaza," he said.

In Israel, a military spokesman said it has "begun preparations" to prevent the ship from reaching the Gaza Strip in defiance of a naval blockade on the Palestinian territory.

The 92-metre (302-foot) freighter, Amalthea, left a Greek port on Saturday and was expected to arrive off Gaza's territorial waters on Wednesday, according to the Kadhafi Foundation.

In Cairo, an Egyptian official said on Tuesday that Cairo has received a request for the Libyan ship to dock in El-Arish, near Egypt's border with Gaza, but did not specify the origin of the request.

 

[Aspahbod]

I'm waiting to see what will happen.

 

[gambit]

I'm waiting to see what will happen.

This is what happened...

Gaza Aid Ship Heads To Egypt, Israeli Officials Say : NPR

Gaza Aid Ship Heads To Egypt, Israeli Officials Say

by The Associated Press
July 13, 2010

A Libyan ship carrying supplies and pro-Palestinian activists is heading for Egypt instead of Gaza, averting a confrontation at sea, Israeli military officials said Tuesday.

The officials said the ship captain informed the Israeli navy that he was sailing to El Arish, the capital of North Sinai, on the Mediterranean coast. Israel has insisted that it would not allow the Libyan ship to reach Gaza, breaking a naval blockade.

The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made.

The officials said Israeli naval vessels would continue to accompany the Libyan ship, because a last-minute course change could point the ship toward Gaza.

Israel came under harsh international criticism after nine activists were killed in a raid on a Turkish flotilla on May 31.

All the talks about the 'illegality' of the blockade were exactly just that -- talk. And without sound legal foundation. Next will be the focus on why did Hamas used Gaza to conduct rocket attacks and how that created the current mess in Gaza.

 

[TOPGUN]

Lets see what israelis do now ....

 

[DesiGuy]

Lets see what israelis do now ....

JERUSALEM: The Israeli navy was preparing to stop a Libyan aid ship that was closing in on the Gaza Strip coast on Tuesday, the military said as activists on board said they had been warned to alter course.

“Israeli authorities have given us until midnight tonight (2100 GMT) to change course and head to the (Egyptian) port of El-Arish,” Mashallah Zwei, an activist on board told AFP by satellite phone.

“Otherwise they are threatening to intercept the boat with their navy,”said Zwei, a member of the Kadhafi Foundation charity which organised the shipment, adding the crew had informed the navy it would study the request.

Israeli officials later said the ship's captain had agreed to divert the boat and asked for directions in charting a course to El-Arish. However, Israeli warships would continue to monitor the vessel to ensure it was not a ruse, the officials said.

A military spokesman denied they had given the ship an ultimatum, saying they only gave them “a clarification about what they already knew, that they could not go to Gaza.””The navy has begun preparations for stopping the ship, should it attempt to violate the naval blockade,” he told AFP.

“We are now making contact with them.”Fears of a new and potentially deadly standoff came exactly six weeks after Israeli commandos launched a pre-dawn operation to prevent a flotilla of aid ships from breaching its naval blockade on Gaza.

In the resulting skirmishes, nine Turks, including a dual US national, were shot dead and dozens of other people injured, among them nine Israeli commandos. -AFP

DAWN.COM | World | Israel navy prepares to stop Libyan aid ship

 

[Ras]

Lets see what israelis do now ....

Let us say the ship's captain gave in...Israeli's don't bluff they just do what they openly tell.

 

[GUNNER]

JERUSALEM, July 14, 2010 (AFP) - A Libyan aid ship got underway on Wednesday after stalling overnight, with organisers insisting it was staying the course for Gaza, its every movement shadowed by a fleet of Israeli warships.

But it was unclear if the freighter was heading for the Egyptian port of El-Arish, or would continue to head for the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade on the territory.

The Libyan charity which chartered the Amalthea confirmed the vessel had begun moving, and insisted it was still heading for Gaza.

"The ship has resumed its journey but the going is difficult," Yussef Sawan, head of the Kadhafi Foundation, told AFP.

"Israeli naval boats are trying to block its course and divert it from the Gaza coast," he said, adding that the boat was "about three hours from Gaza."

Sawan said the Israelis had given those on board the boat the choice of either turning back or heading to El-Arish.

"If not, they have threatened to resort to force and to escort the boat to the Israeli port of Ashdod," he said.

The Israeli military said the Amalthea appeared to be heading for El-Arish, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the west of Gaza.

"Currently the Libyan ship is headed in the direction of El-Arish port in Egypt," the military said in a statement posted on Twitter.

"We are continuing to monitor the ship -- it won't go to Gaza," a spokesman confirmed as navy ships shadowed the freighter.

The Amalthea stalled overnight at a spot in international waters 60 miles from El-Arish and 80 miles from Gaza, the military said.

Overnight, it apparently developed engine trouble.

Israel's public radio, whose monitor has been listening in to radio transmissions between the ship and the navy, broadcast what it said was the ship's captain reporting his main engine had failed.

The radio later reported that the Israeli boats were within visual range of the vessel, and were contacting the captain with questions every time there was suspicious movement on deck.

In Tripoli, Sawan confirmed the vessel had engine trouble, but blamed its lack of progress on the Israeli navy.

"Because of a malfunction, the cargo ship was moving slowly but now it has stopped. The Israeli navy is preventing us from moving," Sawan told AFP.

"Eight Israeli warships are surrounding the Libyan aid ship for Gaza and preventing the continuation of its journey," he said.

The ship, which is carrying a cargo of 2,000 tonnes of foodstuffs and medicine, has been charted by a charity run by Seif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

Speaking to the Maariv daily, a senior military official said naval forces were not expecting any problems from those on board but they were prepared to respond if it became necessary.

"We do not expect any resistance," he said. "But if our soldiers do encounter problems, they will not hesitate to use force."

The last time Israel tried to stop Gaza aid ships the resulting skirmishes left nine Turks, including a dual US national, dead while dozens of other people were injured, including nine Israeli commandos.

Washington on Tuesday urged both parties to act with caution.

"We have urged the Libyan government to avoid any unnecessary confrontation," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, calling on all parties "to act responsibly" in meeting Gaza's needs.

The 92-metre (302-foot) freighter had left Greece on Saturday carrying a crew of 12 of various nationalities, along with nine passengers: six Libyans, a Nigerian, a Moroccan and an Algerian national, the shipping agent said.

Earlier this week, Israel's military published the results of an internal inquiry into the May 31 raid, which found that while mistakes had been made, the troops' use of live fire was "justified".

Global pressure over the May 31 debacle forced Israel to significantly change its policy on Gaza, and now it prevents only the import of arms and goods it says could be used to build weapons or fortifications.