Lebanon, Algeria sending ships to Gaza

TRIPOLI, Lebanon, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Organizers of a Lebanese humanitarian effort said a ship that Israel has linked to Hezbollah will head for Gaza Sunday and an Algerian ship is already en route.

Sources in the Israeli army said the navy would intercept any ship attempting to reach Gaza.

Arab media reports said an aid ship sponsored by the Algerian government, with political and religious officials on board, headed for Gaza Thursday.

Palestine Today said the ship was funded by Algerian businessmen and religious officials to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. No details were given concerning the route the ship planned to take or the cargo it carried.

At a news conference in Tripoli Thursday, Samar al-Hajj, organizer of the Lebanese humanitarian effort, said the Mariam will leave for Cyprus Sunday evening from the port of Tripoli, Arab and Lebanese media said.

Al-Hajj told reporters that all 50 activists on board the ship are women and said the cargo includes cancer medication, books and toys.

She is the wife of an officer in the Lebanese security service who was jailed for four years for alleged involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Israeli officials said she and her husband met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in May.

The ship is reportedly funded by Yasser Kashlak, a Syrian businessman of Palestinian descent who heads the "Free Palestine Organization."

Israeli government officials said the ship would not be permitted to reach Gaza, but can dock at an Israeli port and the goods will be dismantled and transferred overland to Gaza.

The Lebanese ship is a Bolivian-flagged cargo vessel originally called the Junia Star.

The Cypriot ambassador to Lebanon said the ship would not be allowed to dock in Cyprus.

"We decided that such a ship will not be allowed to enter Cyprus, and if such a Gaza bound ship docks in a Cypriot port the crew and the passengers will be deported to their country of origin," Israel media quoted Kyriacos Kouros as saying.

Cyprus has a "moral and legal responsibility" to those allowed into its waters, and a blockade-busting ship could endanger lives and "regional peace and stability," he said.

In May, Israel intercepted a flotilla heading for Gaza and commandos raided the ships. Nine activists were killed on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara.