Egypt demanded today that Israel allow the Egyptian ship, Lotus, to unload some 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies at the Beirut harbor. The shipment was collected in a charity drive initiated by the anti-Israel opposition parties in Egypt for the Palestinian inhabitants in west Beirut. Israel reportedly objected because several opposition leaders were aboard the ship and they planned to go ashore as soon as the ship docked.
Foreign Minister Kamal Hassan Ali of Egypt met today in Alexandria with Ambassador Moshe Sasson of Israel and told him that although the project had been organized by parties hostile toward Israel, Egypt wanted permission to have the food and medical supplies unloaded.
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