Libyan ship bound for Gaza intercepted by Israeli authorities – Letter from Libya

    Letter dated 2 December 2008 from the Permanent Representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

  On instructions from my Government, I should like to communicate to you that, on Monday, 1 December 2008, two gunboats belonging to the Zionist entity intercepted the Libyan ship Al-Marwa , which was headed to the port of Gaza in order to deliver humanitarian aid destined for children and the sick, who are suffering from illness and starvation because of the Zionist blockade. After collecting information regarding the ship and its crew and threatening to destroy it should it enter the port of Gaza, the gunboats forced the Al-Marwa to stop its journey and made it turn back.

  We should like to emphasize that the United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent may inspect the Libyan ship in order to verify that it is on a humanitarian mission and that its cargo is only foodstuffs and medicines, namely:

  In addition to its Libyan captain, the ship carries a crew of 13, a representative of the Libyan Fund for Aid and Development in Africa and three journalists.

  We request that the Security Council take urgent action in order to allow the ship to enter the port of Gaza and unload its cargo.

  I would be grateful if the present letter could be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed ) Giadalla A. Ettalhi

Permanent Representative

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