A support flotilla en route to Gaza despite an Israeli obstruction was ready to sail on Saturday, after a delay caused by technical drawbacks and fear Israel possibly will take one of the ships, said organizers.
Hundreds of activists are to come in international waters off the coast of Cyprus was braced for the final leg of their attempt to bust Gaza embargo - an offer Israel has promised to stop.
But the organizers were still trying to negotiate with the Cypriot establishment before noon on Saturday to try to arrange the transfer to the flotilla of a group of 25 multi-national parliamentarians are waiting on the island.
"We are currently operating at the limits of Cypriot water to try and negotiate with the establishment," said Thomas Summer Houdeville, a French pro-Palestinian activist on board the vessels, said.
The Cypriot establishment "yesterday evening (Friday) will be the captains of the boats that tried to take the parliamentarians on board," he told AFP by telephone, adding that the sailors were on the loose shortly afterwards.
The organizers accused the Cyprus administration reneging on an earlier agreement to allow the flotilla to sail from Cyprus waters, after which the Israeli press that Nicosia has rejected.
Flotilla had originally been due to sail on Friday.
"We will not start before Saturday, but the boats are still under development," Audrey bum of the Free Gaza pressure group that organized the multi-national flotilla AFP Friday.
"We have changed the coordinates twice because Israel allegedly has in danger to capture the Turkish ship, so we decided to postpone getting all the boats together," she added.
"This has delayed it one day at a time, because changing coordinates takes time ... There were also technological tribulations with one of the boats, so we had to move passengers from the Turkish one," said the bum.
Thurs cargo and five small boats loaded with thousands of tons of supplies and hundreds of passengers planning blockade-busting run of the Palestinian country.
Organisers said an eighth ship was Rachel Corrie on its way from Ireland is lagging behind and required to go to Gaza separately.
Israel has said it "warrants issued, keeping out the entrance of the vessels to Gaza" and that the flotilla would be breaking the law.
It is intended to intercept the boats and keep them on board in port Ashdod before deport them.
Israel imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas - an Islamic movement committed to the destruction of Israel - the power of the poor and overcrowded Palestinian country.
Because of the blockade, was very limited manufacture possible in the wake of a overwhelming 22 days offensive Israel launched the 27 December 2008.
Activists has arrived in Gaza five times, with three attempts failed because their first trip in August 2008, all of them from Cyprus.
To date, support has been symbolic, but organizers said the flotilla is now happening, is loaded with 10,000 tons of support, from pre-fabricated homes for pencils.
No comments:
Post a Comment