Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (ANTARA News/AFP) - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned Sunday a leaked UN report which it said "whitewashes" Israel`s deadly 2010 raid on a Turkish-led aid flotilla.

"The UN Panel of Inquiry`s Report failed to reflect an objective and unbiased position," OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in a statement.

"The OIC cannot accept any report that would whitewash Israel`s attack on the humanitarian flotilla and condone Israel`s illegal blockade against the Palestinian civilians," he said.

Ihsanoglu expressed his support for Turkey`s recently declared plans to take Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the raid.

Nine Turkish citizens were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the six-boat flotilla on May 31 last year, in a bid to stop it from breaching Israel`s blockade on Gaza.

The UN report leaked on Thursday accused Israel of acting with "excessive force" in the operation.

But it endorsed the legality of Israel`s naval blockade of Gaza, which the Jewish state says is necessary to prevent the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the coastal enclave, from obtaining weapons.

Turkish-Israeli relations have deteriorated since the incident.

Turkey`s announcement on Friday that it was expelling Israel`s ambassador and suspending long-standing military agreements between the once-friendly nations appears to have plunged ties to a new low.

Ankara has been demanding an apology from Israel for the deaths of Turkish citizens, but Israel has refused to do so.

The OIC also called for another independent inquiry into the flotilla raid and called on the international community to exert "as much pressure as possible" on Israel to end its four-year Gaza blockade.

It said that Israel, as an "occupying power must ensure the unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance" to the Palestinians. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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