Inquiry panel submits Gaza flotilla report to UN chief

Inquiry headed by former New Zealand PM hands Ban preliminary report; UN spokesman: inquiry proceeding "in a positive and collegial manner."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
UN Flotilla Committee 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
UN Flotilla Committee 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
A UN spokesman reported that an inquiry panel submitted a preliminary report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Gaza flotilla attack on the Mavi Mamara, which left nine dead and scores wounded, AFP reported Wednesday night.
Former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer and a panel which includes representatives from Israel and Turkey has begun probing the May 31 attack.
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The report explained that the the UN did not provide details of the report but a spokesman for Ban said the inquiry was proceeding in "in a positive and collegial manner."
"The panel agreed that in light of the information so gathered, it would examine and identify the facts, circumstances and context of the incident and make findings and recommendations for the prevention of similar incidents in the future," a spokesman for the UN secretary general said.
The panel began its investigation in August amid a slew of inquiries and would-be probes into the flotilla incident, including the ongoing Turkel Committee in Israel, a competing UN investigation from the Human Rights Council, and an independent inquiry from a dissatisfied Turkey.
Counting the initial, internal IDF investigation into the matter, there have been at least five formal investigations announced into the flotilla raid, which resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens aboard the flagship Mavi Marmara.
Dov Preminger contributed to this report