Israel begins deporting Rachel Corrie activists after questioning

Israel on Sunday deported seven of the the 19 Rachel Corrie activists and crew to Jordan after questioning. Their Gaza-bound ship carrying aid supplies was intercepted by Israeli commandos Saturday and rerouted to the port of Ashdod.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - Israel deported to Jordan on Sunday seven of those who were on board the Rachel Corrie aid ship which tried to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza, an AFP correspondent at the border said.

A Cuban and six Malaysians -- member of parliament Mohd Nizar Zakaria, two TV3

"Israel is believed to be considering an international enquiry into the raid"

By Annette YOUNG

television journalists and three staff of the Perdana Global Peace organisation -- crossed the Allenby Bridge into the kingdom and were received by Jordanian officials.

"We are very disappointed because the whole idea was to get to Gaza. We should emphasise that we came with a message of hope and peace," Mattias Chang of Perdana told AFP.

"They did not use force with us. There was no necessity to use force against us."

Chang said the organisation, chaired by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, will try to go to Gaza again.

"We will not stop. We will try to have another mission to bring aid to Gaza and break thesiege. Israelis, Palestinians, all must come together and stop the violence," he said.

Eleven others detained on board the aid ship by Israeli troops were due to fly out of Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv.

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Israeli forces intercepted and seized control of the Rachel Corrie on Saturday as it tried to reach the Gaza Strip, without use of force like that on Monday when nine people were killed as commandos stormed an aid flotilla.

Israel deported an Indonesian journalist on Sunday who had been among the passengers wounded in the interception of that flotilla.

Surya Fachrizal, 28, "was shot in the upper right chest," an Indonesian embassy official said, adding that the journalist was to be admitted to hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman before being flown home.

The Irish-owned 1,200-tonne Rachel Corrie was escorted into the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, and the activists and crew taken to Holon immigration centre near Tel Aviv for questioning before being deported.