SPIRIT OF RACHEL CORRIE ALLOWED TO BERTH - PGPF

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- The humanitarian aid ship MV Finch, also
known as the Spirit of Rachel Corrie, had been allowed to berth at the El Arish
port in Egypt at 7.10pm (Egypt time) Tuesday.

Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) President Dr Mahathir Mohamad
said he was informed by members of PGPF who are in El Arish to oversee the
operation, that they have unloaded the PVC pipes, weighing some 32 tonnes, onto
seven trucks for onward transportation to Gaza, immediately.

The humanitarian aid cargo took almost four hours to be transferred to seven
awaiting trailers and will be taken to Ouja at the Israeli border where it will
be reassigned to other trailers sponsored by the Palestinians and delivered to
Gaza via Karem Shalom.

"It is my fervent hope that the new Egyptian government will continue to
support our cause to extend assistance to Palestinians, especially in Gaza, who
have been placed under illegal siege by the Tel Aviv regime since 2007," he said
in a statement released by PGPF here Wednesday.

He also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Egyptian Prime Minister Dr
Essam Sharaf, whom he had met in Cairo last week, for helping to expedite the
whole process.

"On our part, we will continue to be committed in opposing and challenging
the siege that is nothing less than an act of genocide by Israeli regime on the
whole population of Palestinians in Gaza," he added.

On May 16, the ship which entered the Palestinian territorial waters, was
just 400 meters from land, when it came under attack by the Israeli Navy and
thereafter forced to divert to Egyptian waters.

Later on the same day, it anchored off El Arish where it remained for the
last seven weeks, waiting for permission to dock.