Gaddafi int’l: Our aid ship will not go to Egyptian ports

Gaddafi int’l: Our aid ship will not go to Egyptian ports

GAZA, –Director of the foundation Yousuf Sowan in a press statement categorically denied what an Egyptian official had announced that the ship would arrive Wednesday morning to Al-Arish port.

“We did not leave Libya but to go to Gaza and the Egyptian official only reflected his wishes,” Sowan stressed.

The ship’s captain and the head of the foundation’s team on board of Al-Amal aid ship affirmed yesterday that the ship’s sole destination was Gaza and asserted it was carrying humanitarian aid and had no other purpose whatsoever.

The Israeli gunboats are still present near the aid ship, according to the latest news reports.

The Hebrew radio reported that the ship dropped its anchor due to engine failure.

The reporter of Al-Jazeera satellite channel aboard the ship said that four gunboats are surrounding the vessel which sustained technical problems, noting the engineers are trying to fix it.

Meanwhile, Yemen started an extensive campaign to collect donations to prepare and send an aid convoy of four ships to Gaza people.

The campaign was officially lunched last week at a ceremony in Sana’a in the presence of deputy premier for defense and security affairs Rashad Al-Alimi.

The idea of sending aid ships to Gaza was raised by the Yemeni noted religious figure Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zandani in a popular gathering held in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla convoy.

Yemeni lawmaker Mohamed Al-Hazmi, who was arrested along with other Yemenis by Israeli troops after their deadly attack on the Flotilla convoy, told Al-Jazeera net that when he and his trip mates returned to Sana’a and met with the Yemeni president, they tabled the idea of sending ships to Gaza.

Hazmi added that the president approved the idea and expressed his support for the convoy.