Israel to return impounded Gaza aid ships to Turkey

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will return the Turkish aid ships on which its troops killed nine activists trying to reach blockaded Gaza, officials said on Friday, in what appeared to be a new bid to repair bilateral ties.

Turkey, once a rare Muslim friend of Israel, withdrew its ambassador and suspended joint military exercises after the May 31 raid on the Mavi Marmara cruise ship and five other vessels. Ankara also demanded an apology, but Israel has ruled that out.

While the Jewish state lost a powerful ally in the region, Turkey rallied outraged Arab and Muslim nations and in doing so staked its claim to a leading role in the Middle East under its AK Party government, which has roots in political Islam.

Talks to return the Mavi Marmara and two other Turkish-owned ships from the flotilla had been held up by Israel's demand the owners undertake not to sail against the blockade, which it says prevents arms smuggling to Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers.

"A decision was made yesterday to allow the ships to leave without further conditions. Turkey has been informed. They will leave soon," an Israeli official said.

The Turkish embassy was handling discussions on how to retrieve the ships from Haifa and Ashdod ports, another Israeli official said, but the embassy had no immediate comment.

Israel has eased overland trade to Gaza, many of whose 1.5 million Palestinians are aid-dependant. Powers like the United Nations and European Union have called for greater access but also spoke out against further attempts to bust the blockade.

LEBANESE EN ROUTE?

Anticipating two aid ships from Lebanon, Israel said on Thursday it had the right "to use all necessary means" to bar them from Gaza. Israeli media described the departure of the ships, the Mariam and Naji Ali, as imminent. But Lebanese sources said the Mariam was marooned with paperwork problems.

Israel admitted errors in planning the high seas seizure of the Mavi Marmara yet justified the lethal force of its marines, saying they came under club, knife and gun attacks after abseiling in from helicopters. Activists dispute that account.

Israeli former general Giora Eiland, who headed an internal military investigation of the incident, said bloodshed could have been reduced had the navy first cleared the Mavi Marmara's decks with high-pressure hoses or water dropped from the air.

"If used against the stern, then when the dinghies arrive this would create better conditions for soldiers to board the ship," Eiland told Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Friday.

Though it has resisted Turkish demands for a wider international probe, Israel has made fence-mending overtures.

On Tuesday, it lifted an advisory against Israelis visiting Turkey, noting there were fewer demonstrations that might have endangered them. Defence Minister Ehud Barak voiced hope that revived Israeli tourism to Turkey would improve relations.

Asked why Israel no longer sought formal Turkish assurances that the ships would not be used for future Gaza aid missions, an Israeli official cited Ankara's rejection of the demand.

There were also legal challenges in negotiating such a deal with the IHH, a Turkish Islamist charity that chartered the Mavi Marmara and which Israel has designated a terrorist organisation, the official said.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassem in Beirut and Douglas Hamilton in Jerusalem; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jon Hemming)