BEIRUT – LEBANESE authorities have granted a Gaza-bound ship carrying aid and activists permission to sail to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi says the ship, ‘Julia,’ is now docked at the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli and can set sail once it is cleared by port authorities there.
Mr Aridi’s comments came in an interview with a local Lebanese TV channel late on Sunday and published in the press on Monday.
He said the ship would be allowed to sail to Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel were technically in a state of war.
The ship’s organisers said on Monday they plan to sail in the next few days. They did not give an exact date for departure because of security concerns. — AP
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Related:
Lebanon gives greenlights to Gaza-bound aid ship
Israel has been in touch with the UN, the United States, France, Spain and Germany on this issue, it has also been speaking with the Vatican because “Mariam” is expected to include several dozens of Catholic nuns, Ha’aretz said.
However, Aridi said “Mariam” was not the ship’s name, stressing that the voyage was christened “Mariam” in honor of Virgin Mary.
Updated @1200 21 June 2010:
Lebanon aid ships prepare to sail
Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an – Two Gaza-bound aid ships are to set sail to Cyprus on Monday, Gaza’s Popular Committee Against the Siege chief said.
Independent Palestinian lawmaker and anti-siege head Jamal Al-Khoudary announced the imminent departure of the two ships at a news conference held at the fishermen port in Gaza city.
Al-Khoudary said that more than 480 women including American nuns requested to join the all-women ship Miriam which will transfer only 50 women. The other vessel, called Naji Al-Ali after the renowned Palestinian cartoonist, will transfer only journalists.
[…]
Another aid ship, Julia, is due to set sail from Lebanon to Cyprus according to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Under Lebanese law ships cannot travel from Lebanon to Israeli-controlled ports as the two countries are technically in a state of war, transport minister Ghazi Al-Aridi said.