Spanish activists seize their embassy in Athens to protest Gaza flotilla ban

[ 06/07/2011 - 02:27 PM ] 

MADRID, (PIC)-- 21 Spanish activists took over their country's embassy in central Athens on Tuesday in protest of a decision by the Greek authorities banning the sailing of their vessels for the besieged Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.

The activists, who were on the vessel "Gernica", arrived from the Cretan port city of Hania where their vessel remained docked on orders of the Greek coast guards.

Local authorities in Athens had banned a flotilla of nine vessels loaded with aid and carrying pro-Palestinian activists from sailing towards the impoverished Gaza Strip.

In the meantime, the Greek authorities released the American sea captain, John Klusmire, who challenged the ban on his vessel and set sail for Gaza without permission.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian