Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Kidnapped Aid-Workers Speak Of Continuing Ordeal Aboard Absconding Greek Ship

omarinbox | 11.11.2010 23:32 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | Social Struggles | World

EXCLUSIVE - Dramatic footage of the moment the Greek ship's captain went berserk will soon be available from documentary film maker, Josh Barnes, currently still at Derna Port in Libya with Road to Hope, Convoy to Gaza. To request footage, contact Josh at email is:  barnesjoshuawilliam@gmail.com

IMMEDIATE RELEASE


EXCLUSIVE - Dramatic footage of the moment the Greek ship's captain went berserk will soon be available from documentary film maker, Josh Barnes, currently still at Derna Port in Libya with Road to Hope, Convoy to Gaza. To request footage, contact Josh at email is:  barnesjoshuawilliam@gmail.com



PRESS RELEASE - ROAD TO HOPE, CONVOY TO GAZA



THURSDAY 11/11/2010 - 22.30 GMT



KIDNAPPED AID-WORKERS SPEAK OF CONTINUING ORDEAL ABOARD ABSCONDING GREEK SHIP



10 aid workers have made their first contact by mobile phone text messages to family and friends. They have spoken at length about their ordeal onboard "Strofades IV" Greek-owned ship, registered in Malta.



The 10 aid workers are out of physical danger, sitting together in one small cabin in the lower-deck's crew quarters of the ship. They want to reassure everyone they are OK:



Mustapha El-Guerbouzi (46) - UK National, resident in West London

Kieran L Turner (38) - UK National, resident in Liverpool

Raheal Parveez (25) - UK National, resident in North East London

Aziz Mekkati (43) - Algerian National, resident in Algeria

Yunus Malik (23) - UK National, resident in London

Nagib Elgarib Elbarrami (32) - UK National

David T Callander (35) - Irish National

Tauqir A Sharif (23)- UK National, resident in North East London

Kenneth O'Keefe (41)- Irish National

Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali (21) - UK National



There are 7 (more than previously reported) Libyans on the ship as well. The Libyans include customs inspectors, border police and the harbour manager for Derna Port. The Libyans are being treated better than the aid workers, seem to have separate cabins, have more freedom of movement and are in contact with Libyan authorities by radio and mobile phone.



Kieran Turner says: "At one point we managed to get hold of a ship's radio, and got through to a nearby tanker - OCL Oakland. Through the tanker we sent out distress messages, requesting help, and these got passed onto two alleged Nato warships in the area P492 and F452."



Ken O'Keefe added: "They said they would help, but no one has come to rescue us. That was some hours ago."



Kieran adds: "At first we were made to stay in the loading bay area at the rear of the ship, which was really dangerous once the ship got out to sea - the ship's loading door is still open at a 45degree angle! They didn't give us any life jackets. And that was when the weather was still calm. The weather is rough now - you can just imagine..."



Kieran further adds: "Initially we were stopped from moving around the ship and had to stay in the bottom of the lower deck. Eventually we just walked through to the crew quarters, and they've let us occupy their small smoking room. At least we are safe and in the dry, and it has a couch so we can try to sleep. We've been given one meal, of sorts, since the ship left Derna. We've got access to water, but it's not drinking water."



Ken O'Keefe has tried to talk to the Captain on a number of occasions. At first he succeeded in talking to him, but since then the captain has blanked him.



The 10 convoyers still do not know where the boat is headed. They asked Ellie to describe to them where the ship appeared on an internet "ship tracking" website. She described they were about 25 miles off the western tip of Crete, heading due north further into Greek territorial waters. The guess is that the berthing port chosen by the captain will be a small, regional port west of Athens on mainland Greece, several hours sail away.



Ellie says: "The relief being able to talk to them was huge: to know they are physically safe and unharmed. However, we remain extremely worried about their overall safety - rough seas, and a bow door open at 45degree angle? It's criminal the captain is sailing in rough weather with an unsecured vessel. Really shocking. I am also disappointed to hear the ship owner and his assistant are armed, and refuse to give the convoyers freedom of movement around the ship. The aid workers are genuine hostages. It is still deeply worrying."



For further information, please contact:



Ellie Merton

London Liaison

Road to Hope, Convoy to Gaza

www.roadtohope.co.uk

+44 7770 376701

 elliemerton@gmail.com

omarinbox

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech