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Obama calls for "effective investigation" of flotilla incident

Other News Materials 4 June 2010 09:02 (UTC +04:00)
US President Barack Obama on Thursday repeated the US position that a probe is needed into the incident in which Israeli forces killed nine people aboard a ship bound for the Gaza Strip with humanitarian supplies, dpa reported.
Obama calls for "effective investigation" of flotilla incident

US President Barack Obama on Thursday repeated the US position that a probe is needed into the incident in which Israeli forces killed nine people aboard a ship bound for the Gaza Strip with humanitarian supplies, dpa reported.

   The raid on Monday in the Mediterranean unleashed international condemnation and new calls for Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza.

   The incident has placed the US in a difficult position as Israel's closest ally and cast a shadow over prospects for the talks that Washington is trying to broker between Israel and the Palestinians.

   "We are calling for an effective investigation of everything that happened," Obama said in an interview with US-based broadcaster CNN.

   "We need to know what all the facts are."

   Israel claims that its troops were attacked by people aboard one of the six ships as they slid down ropes from a helicopter onto the deck of the vessel.

   Obama said that the incident should show Israel, the Palestinians and all other parties to the Mideast conflict that "the status quo is unsustainable."

   He repeated the US call for talks leading to a two-state solution.

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