(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A French ship on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla II has left for Egypt on Saturday after being stopped for several days in Greece, Greek authorities have announced.
Greek coast guards said the French ship dubbed “Dignity – Karama”, which landed a few days back on Kastellorizo island port, left the tiny island on its way to the Egyptian Alexandria port.
The ship was unable to set sail Friday because it collided with a Greek rescue boat causing minor damage, the coast guard added.
On 7 July, the Greek coast guard guided the ship to Setia port on Crete island as it tried to sail to Gaza.
Greek authorities have banned all of the Freedom Flotilla's ships from going to Gaza.
Ultimately, Dignity made its way to Kastellorizo island where it docked for a few days afterwards.
The boat carries twelve people on board. Two of them ditched the boat and returned to France. Both of them were politicians, one a member of the European Parliament.
Nine boats have been prevented from progressing past the Greek ports after Greece succumbed to Israeli pressure to thwart the ships amid Israeli threats that it would use military force to stop the ships should they proceed to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
According to Athens, Greece's flotilla ban came to protect the activists aboard the ships and to prevent a repeat of what happened on the first Freedom Flotilla, when Israeli naval forces attacked killing nine activists and injuring many more.
A year later in 2011, more than 300 activists from 22 countries announced they would take part in the sequel Gaza-bound flotilla. Among the activists are scores of Europeans and Americans. Israel confronted the mission with determination not to let any ship reach the besieged Gaza Strip.
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17 July 2011 - 19:30
News ID: 254163
A French ship on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla II has left for Egypt on Saturday after being stopped for several days in Greece, Greek authorities have announced.
