Viva Palestina arrives in Egypt to enter Gaza
January 6, 2010 - 0:0
Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy has arrived in the Egyptian port city of El-Arish to pass thought the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip.
A Turkish ship, which carries the convoy from the Syrian port of Lattakia to Egypt, arrived in El-Arish on Sunday evening, said Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, head of El-Arish port.The ship carrying the 250-vehicle convoy will be unloaded at the port and be transferred to the Gaza Strip via Rafah crossing, according to Egypt's official MENA news agency.
According to the report, 528 activists from 17 countries who are onboard the convoy will also travel to Gaza.
But The Viva Palestina convoy's first batch flew to this port city on Tuesday, only to find their passports seized by the Egyptian authorities for seven hours.
The Egyptian Immigration Department stamped the passports of the 157 members of the convoy with 'entry' and 'exit' simultaneously.
While they were instructed to pay US$15 per person for their visa upon arrival, exemption was however, given to Malaysian and Turkish citizens aged above 45.