Malaysian Prime Minister calls for international trial of Israeli officials for attacking Freedom Flotilla

[ 07/06/2010 - 05:55 PM ]

KUALA LUMPUR, (PIC)--

Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said on Monday that Israeli officials are "global gangsters," and demanded their prosecution before the International Court of Justice for their attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

Razak said in a speech he gave before the parliament that Malaysia would demand from the UN Security Council to condemn Israel's attacks and prosecute the offenders before the International Court of Justice. He also called for the United States to exert the strongest pressure on Israel.

Razak said that the "Zionist commandos opened fire on activists at close range, and even on their backs, in an act of cowardice which cannot be pardoned."

He continued, "Such behavior as this has become possible because the global gangsters in Israel know that they are protected by global powers."

Malaysian parliamentarians unanimously approved of the bill of indictment supported by the prime minister.

Malaysian Foreign Minister, Hanifa Imam, called for the Security Council to be stricter towards Israel, and he showed his regret that the world, including European countries, issued strong-worded condemnations, but United Nations' response was "very, very weak".

Davutoglu: No relations with Israel before an int'l probe into Flotilla crime

[ 07/06/2010 - 05:36 PM ]

ANKARA, (PIC)--

Turkish minister of foreign affairs Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated Monday that his country cannot restore its relations with Israel if it still refuses an independent committee to be formed by the UN to investigate the Freedom Flotilla massacre.

Davutoglu already stressed the need for conducting an independent international probe into the incident as a condition for having the diplomatic relations back on track between Turkey and Israel.

Calls for unbiased international investigation was not confined to Ankara, but also the ministers of foreign affairs in France and Britain echoed the same demands.

In the same context, secretary-general of the organization of the Islamic conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu called on the participants in the meeting of foreign ministers of Islamic countries to work on forming a team of legal experts to conceptualize judicial mechanisms for the prosecution of Israeli officials responsible for the deadly attack on Freedom Flotilla convoy.

Ihsanoglu also noted during the meeting on Sunday that the legal side must be given great attention in the quest for ending the injustice inflicted on Gaza people.

He also called on the member countries of the Islamic organization to work alongside with friendly regional groups and member states of the UN on lifting the unjust blockade on Gaza and convene a meeting in this regard of the general assembly under the Uniting for Peace resolution.

For his part, Turkish premier Recep Erdogan stated that his country would continue its moves to end the Israeli blockade on Gaza by all means.

"Gaza is a historical cause for us; we stand in the face of those who force the people of Gaza to live in an open-air prison," Erdogan said in a public speech in the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa on Sunday.

"We will stand firm until the blockade on Gaza is lifted, the massacres cease and the state terror in the Middle East is accounted for," he added.

The Turkish premier noted that he made a telephone call last Saturday to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to discuss the formation of an international committee to investigate the Freedom Flotilla massacre.

In a related incident, the Israeli government decided to prevent its soldiers from travelling to Turkey either for military or private reasons for fear their lives may be exposed to danger in the wake of the attack on Freedom Flotilla, that led to the murder of nine Turks.

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