Aid ship sets off

A Gaza aid ship has left Greece for Egypt under Israeli pressure, but Libyan organisers say it intends to defy the Jewish state's blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

The ship's agent and the Greek Foreign Ministry said the vessel, chartered to a charity headed by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, departed yesterday for the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

But the Gaddafi Foundation that organised the shipment said later the ship's destination was Gaza. It said the ship was "loaded with about 2000 tonnes of humanitarian aid."

Israeli media reported that Israel has asked the UN to stop the Libyan ship.