Organizers of a Lebanese women-only aid ship which intens to break the Gaza Strip blockade declared on Thursday they will sail to Cyprus on the first leg of their journey on Sunday. "The ship Mariam will leave for Cyprus on Sunday at 10 pm (1900 GMT) from the port of Tripoli" in north Lebanon, organizer Samar al-Hajj told reporters outside the port.
The Mariam, a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship originally named the Junia Star, intends to carry aid to Gaza in an attempt to break the four-year siege with 50 Lebanese and foreign women activists on board.
"The Cypriot ambassador to Lebanon tried to convince us not to go and reiterated that his country would not grant us authorisation to sail to Gaza," Hajj was quoted as saying by AFP. "But we are adamant," she added. "We have no arms and we will go to Gaza."
