<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Netanyahu seeks UN help to stop&nbsp;flotilla]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p class="hn-byline">(AFP) – <span class="hn-date">April 1, 2011<br />
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<p>JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called UN chief  Ban Ki-moon on Friday and asked him to stop an international flotilla  of ships seeking to break Israel&#8217;s Gaza blockade, Netanyahu&#8217;s office  said.</p>
<p>A statement said Netanyahu told the secretary general that  among the organisers of the flotilla, expected to head for the Gaza  coast next month, are &#8220;extremist Islamic elements whose aim is to creat a  provocation and bring about a conflagration&#8221;.</p>
<p>The May sailing of  about 15 ships with activists from 25 countries on board is intended to  mark the first anniversary of an Israeli commando raid against a  similar, but smaller, convoy that killed nine Turkish activists,  organisers have said.</p>
<p>Netanyahu told Ban that all kinds of goods  could now enter Gaza by land, while the strip&#8217;s Hamas rulers sought to  smuggle in arms by sea.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hamas is a terror organisation controlled  by Iran and only recently part of the huge effort to arm it and smuggle  arms by sea was exposed with the capture of the &#8216;Victoria&#8217;,&#8221; the  statement quoted him as saying.</p>
<p>The Liberian-flagged Victoria was  intercepted by Israeli naval commandos in mid-March as it sailed around  200 nautical miles west of Israel&#8217;s coast.</p>
<p>The army said it was  carrying about 50 tonnes of weapons concealed in containers holding  lentils and cotton. The haul included tens of thousands of rounds of  small-arms ammunition, more than 2,200 mortar bombs and six Chinese-made  C704 anti-ship missiles.</p>
<p>The shipment also included two missile launchers and an advanced radar system to track targets and guide the missiles.</p>
<p>Israel  said the missiles represented an alarming escalation in attempts to arm  militant groups in Gaza and accused arch-foe Iran of being behind the  shipment. Tehran denied any connection to the incident.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jyx6nY50LXRn2-jpyPyArx-Zf1Iw?docId=CNG.220be63cd8ec856cfbd3b9e5288c4750.991">Source</a></p>
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