NICOSIA, Cyprus — A spokeswoman for a pro-Palestinian group behind
several attempts to breach Israel's Gaza blockade
by ship said it will shut down the group's Cyprus headquarters
on Saturday, but won't stop sending ships to the Palestinian
territory.
Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement said on Saturday the group
could
relocate its offices to London and that plans to send another flotilla
of ships to Gaza in the early fall is still on.
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Berlin
said the group will close its Larnaca office on Monday and members will
return to their respective countries for now.
"We're not going
to stop, were going to move our location," Berlin said. "I think we've
put Israel into a corner and we'll keep it up."
Israeli Foreign
Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Saturday that Israel would continue
to enforce the 3-year blockade as long as Hamas doesn't meet conditions
for international acceptance, including a renunciation of violence and
recognition of Israel.
Berlin said the move was because of
Cyprus' decision last month to ban any ships from sailing to Gaza from
its shore to protect its "vital interests."
"If Cyprus is going
to make it difficult for us, why should we stay?" said Berlin.