EUROPE - Arabs demand independent probe of deadly Israeli raid

UNITED NATIONS (AP)

The United Nations Security Council yesterday held an emergency meeting on Israel's deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, with the Palestinians and Arab nations calling for condemnation and an independent investigation.

Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernández-Taranco said in his briefing to the UN's most powerful body that yesterday's bloodshed would have been avoided "if repeated calls on Israel to end the counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza had been heeded".

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the raid "murder conducted by a state" and demanded an immediate Israeli apology, "an urgent inquiry, international legal action against the authorities and perpetrators responsible, and an end to the Gaza blockade".