Nicaragua suspends ties with Israel

Nicaragua has suspended its diplomatic ties with Israel in protest at Tel Aviv’s deadly attack against an aid convoy heading for the besieged Gaze Strip.

“Nicaragua suspends from today its diplomatic relations with the government of Israel,” President Daniel Ortega’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Managua government “underscored the illegal nature of the attack on a humanitarian mission in clear violation of international and humanitarian law,” AFP quoted Communications Chief Rosario Murillo as saying.

The Central American nation further reiterated its support for the Palestinian people and urged an end to Israel’s crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip.

In South America, Brazil joined the international community’s condemnation of Israel’s attack on the Flotilla and summoned the Israeli ambassador over the brutal assault.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Israel “did not have the right” to carry out such an attack, reminding that the flotilla was traveling in international waters.

Cuba also denounced the “criminal attack,” and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned the move as a “brutal massacre.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon earlier said the bloodshed would not have happened if Israel had lifted its siege on Gaza.

In a pre-dawn attack on Monday, Israeli naval forces in dinghies and helicopters stormed the six-ship Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.

Palestinian sources put the number of those killed at 20 while more than 50 are reported to have been injured.