Navy boards aid ship peacefully, escorts it to Israel

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Mario Draghi

ASHDOD, Israel, June 5 (AFP): Israeli forces Saturday boarded the Rachel Corrie after it ignored orders not to head for Gaza, but there was no repetition of the bloody violence, when commandos stormed an aid boat earlier this week.
The military said its troops had boarded the ship "with the full compliance" of the crew and passengers in a peaceful operation in which there was no use of violence by either side.
"Our forces boarded the boat and took control without meeting any resistance from the crew or the passengers. Everything took place without violence," a spokeswoman told AFP, saying no shots had been fired.
The ship and the 15 people on board, most of them Irish or Malaysian activists, was being escorted into the southern Israeli port of Ashdod from where the aid would be transferred to Gaza through land crossings, the military said.
Speaking to an AFP reporter in Ashdod, army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz said the operation had been conducted peacefully.
The decision to commandeer the Rachel Corrie came after the vessel refused to respond to four requests to head for Ashdod, instead staying its course for Gaza Strip and risking a potentially explosive confrontation with the navy.
Israel promptly warned the 1,200-tonne cargo ship that it would boarded by naval forces if it did not change course.
Israeli forces intercepted the ship in international waters shortly after dawn but only contacted the Rachel Corrie several hours later when it was 28 nautical miles from the coast but did not specify exactly where.