UN panel's report on Mavi Marmara incident finally due next month

A much-delayed UN panel report on last year's Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid convoy, resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish peace activists, is finally due to come out next month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday. "This panel is still discussing the incident," Ban told reporters. "They will bring me their recommendations and their findings some time in July." Last August, Ban appointed a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer to look into the incident. The panel also includes former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as well as Turkish and Israeli representatives. Ban never publicly set a deadline for it to complete its work, although UN officials had originally hoped it might do so first in February and then in April. Diplomats and UN officials have said the panel has been held up by disputes between its Turkish and Israeli members. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky suggested last month the group might not be able to produce a consensus document. Ban said there was still no exact date for the panel to report and that it was "still working very, very hard."