ALL ONBOARD HUMANITARIAN AID SHIP MV FINCH SAFE

From Mohd Faizal Hassan
El-ARISH (EGYPT), May 8(Bernama) -- All 12 passengers and crew members
onboard the Malaysian humanitarian aid ship, MV Finch, are reported to be safe,
contrary to an Al-Jazeera report on Tuesday.

The television station had reported deaths and injuries among the vessel's
crew and passengers.

This Bernama reporter who is among those onboard the ship reported that all
the individuals on the ship were in good health and were not injured when two
Israeli naval vessels fired warning shots at the Malaysian ship carrying
humanitarian aid to Gaza near the Rafah border early Monday morning.

The MV Finch is still berthed at the waiting area in the El-Arish Port
waters, Egypt, since arriving here on Monday evening after Egyptian naval
vessels came to its rescue and escorted it to the port.

However, bureaucratic red tape and the unprofessional attitude of certain
quarters handling the unloading of the ship's cargo is said to have resulted in
the humanitarian activists not being able to leave the ship since yesterday.


They are still waiting for permission from the relevant authorities for them
to unload and deliver the cargo to Gaza by land.

All the humanitarian aid will he handed over to the Ministry of Environment
in Gaza through an agent and this process will take some time.

The MV Finch had been steered by a Malaysian, Captain Abdul Jalil Mansor who
was assisted by four crew members comprising Zainuddin Mohamad and Mohd Jaffery
Ariffin from Malaysia and two Indian nationals, Sharma Chandan Shimla and
Pal Satya Prakash.

Besides the Bernama reporter, also onboard the ship are New Straits Times
reporter Iskandar Alang Bendahara, a volunteer from Felda, Mohd
Radzillah Abdullah, and three humanitarian activitists, Derek and Jenny
Graham from Ireland and Julie Levesque from Canada.