Ankara welcomes UN panel proposal on Israeli assult

Turkey yesterday welcomed a proposal by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a panel to investigate last week's controversial Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, which left nine Turks dead. "We insisted on the establishment of the commission as an independent and impartial body," said a senior Turkish diplomatic source. "The mission of the commission should be to examine the incident from all points of view and light the way for finding out the crime and the criminals." Ban proposed that the panel be headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, a maritime law expert, and include Israeli, Turkish and US representatives. On Saturday, Ban discussed with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "options for moving forward with the investigation called for by the Security Council," the UN said on its website. In related news, Foreign Minister Davutoglu called on all Muslim countries to increase their efforts to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip.