ID :
38259
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 10:21
Auther :

MERCY MALAYSIA TO DEPLOY TEAM FOR HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- MERCY Malaysia will be deploying a team
comprising medical surgeons and logistics personnel to Egypt in response to the
humanitarian needs resulting from the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Aimed at conducting a rapid assessment of the humanitarian needs, the team
will be led by MERCY Malaysia president Dr Jemilah Mahmood and excecutive
council member Norazam Ab Samah.

MERCY Malaysia in a statement said that they would be based at the Egyptian
border town of Rafah to put together a logistic pipeline to ensure that aid
would be channelled to the proper parties in Gaza.

The team is scheduled to leave for Egypt Tuesday night.

"MERCY Malaysia has the advantage of having reliable partners who are
already based in Gaza and this will help expedite the aid that we will provide,"
said Dr Jemilah in the statement.

MERCY, which is an acronym for Malaysian Medical Relief Society, is a
volunteer relief organisation with the objective to provide medical and
humanitarian services at home and abroad.

AMAN (Peace) Malaysia coordinator Mukhriz Mahathir meanwhile called on the
international community to condemn the abhorrent and blatant aggression of
Israel perpetrated against the innocent and defenceless Palestinians living in
the Gaza Strip, which had claimed at least 250 lives and wounded 700 people.

"We exhort the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to stand in
unity awith our Palestinian brethren against the sponsored acts of terrorism
intended to inflict irreparable damage to the meagre existence of a people
robbed of their land by Israel and its allies," he said in statement.

He said that the people of Malaysia denounced Israel's military operations
and called for the Israeli government to forwith cease and desist its attacks on
the densely populated Gaza Strip.

"Israel has neither the moral high ground nor the legitimacy in carrying out
its actions. The IDF has stoked the anger of peace loving citizens throughout
the world and must therefore halt the mobilisation of its troops along the Gaza
Strip border with Israel," he said in his statement.
-- BERNAMA

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