Mavi Marmara, site of deadly raid, towed out of Israeli port

The Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship attacked by Israeli soldiers in May while en route to Gaza with aid supplies, yesterday was towed out Israel's Port of Haifa by a tugboat sent by Turkey. With the departure of two other boats from the same aid flotilla from Ashdod, three boats from the flotilla will remain in Israel indefinitely, including one named after Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist who died in Gaza. Nine Turks, including one Turkish American, died in the May 31 Israeli raid on the flotilla. After initially refusing, Israel this week agreed to take part in a UN probe of the incident. Turkey will also be represented on the probe commission.