NICOSIA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Cypriot government on Tuesday confirmed that Israel had proposed to build a port in Cyprus as part of a plan to alleviate the Gaze Strip blockade.
Government spokeswoman Clelia Valiliou confirmed Israeli media reports on this issue in a statement, but added that the government has not responded to the proposal.
"A relevant request has been made and it is being considered, but there is no agreement yet," the statement said.
The proposal was made by Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman on Friday, when he was in Cyprus to attend a trilateral defence summit of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
Sources said Liberman's plan included construction of a special pier for cargo ships carrying goods destined for Gaza, which would be checked with the help of an Israeli monitoring mechanism to ensure that no weapons were being smuggled into the Hamas-controlled area.
After that, the goods would be sent to Gaza directly by ferry, as the enclave lacks a port capable of receiving large cargo ships.
