Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said Malaysia would propose the matter be deliberated on by the Security Council soonest possible.
I, in the name of the Malaysian government and the people strongly condemn this inhumane, brutal aggression by the Israeli regime on the flotilla which is bringing humanitarian aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza," he said after launching the 4B Youth Movement Alumni yesterday.
Awaiting further details
Najib said "the whole world should condemn the action of this cruel regime".
Sufi Yusoff, secretary to the NGO’s chairman Mahathir Mohamad, said that he spoke to journalist Shamsul Akmar, who is on board the Rachel Corrie, at about 10am today on satellite phone and was told that the rough seas made it difficult to predict when they would reach Gaza. Sufi said that the small ship had a total of 19 people on board – six Malaysians, five Irish and eight crew.
Journalist onboard denies terror links
“We would like to emphasise that this is a totally humanitarian exercise. There are no terrorist elements on board. The Israelis have no reason to attack this ship,” he said, according to Bernama.
Aside from veteran journalist Shamsul, they are lawyer Matthias Chang, Parit MP Nizar Zakaria, activist Ahmad Faizal Azumu and TV3 crew members Halim Mohamed and Jufri Junid.
The Mavi Marmara, one of the nine small ships in the flotilla on a humanitarian mission to Gaza, organised by a pro-Palestinian group and a human rights organisation in Turkey, was attacked by the Israeli army yesterday morning near Gaza. The Israelis claimed the ship carried passengers with terrorist links.
At least 10 people were killed in that raid, triggering international outrage and condemnation.The Mavi Marmara was 65km off Gaza in international waters.Two Malaysians – a reporter and cameraman from Astro Awani – were reported to be on board the Mavi Marmara and their fate is still unknown.
The Rachel Corrie, an 1,200-ton Irish-owned cargo ship, is loaded with reconstruction, medical and educational supplies sponsored by the peoples of Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, and Britain.
Rachel Corrie going alone
The vessel was to have been part of the flotilla but was initially delayed because of mechanical problems and only left Malta on May 30.According to NGO Free Gaza, Israel has limited fuel to run the power station in the past three months and much of Gaza is often in darkness.
There are just enough trucks coming in to barely prevent total starvation, and Egypt, complicit with the Israeli-US policy of blockading Palestinians, is building an underground steel wall to prevent people in Gaza from bringing in vitally needed supplies through tunnels, it says.
Over one million Palestinians in crisis
About 1.5 million Palestinians were trapped in the "open-air prison", it said.Mahathir is scheduled to be interviewed on Al Jazeera at 1pm. Najib, in his speech at the launching of the 4B Youth Movement Alumni, suggested that it play a role as a political and social network to explain to the people the efforts being undertaken and would be carried out by the government for the people and country.
At the function, Najib was also bestowed the "Father of Youth Development" title.
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