An all-women Lebanese aid ship for Gaza has been postponed to await a green light from a third country as a transit point for the mission to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory. The Mariam, a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship, was to have set off from Tripoli port in northern Lebanon later the same day headed for Cyprus on the first leg of a crossing to Gaza. "The trip has not been cancelled but delayed," one of the organisers, Samar al-Hajj, told a news conference in Tripoli, as efforts continued to secure authorisation from another state in the region to dock before heading for Gaza.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war and have no diplomatic ties or maritime links, barring the Mariam's direct departure from a Lebanese port for Israeli-controlled waters. Cyprus has denied the Mariam permission to dock or use its waters and the ship has been trying to negotiate with Greece, Yasser Kashlak, another of the organisers, told reporters. "Contacts are underway with Athens to receive the ship but so far we have not received a reply," he said.
On Saturday, the transport minister Ghazi Aridi said Lebanese authorities will not authorise the Mariam to leave for the Gaza Strip "unless the legal conditions are met." Rima Farah, the aid mission's spokeswoman, said contacts were also underway with Turkey. *AFP