News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Spokesman Jonathan Peled of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. said Thursday that preparations are being made to deport 19 activists who were arrested this week when a Greek-registered ship was intercepted trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. The activists are expected to be released on Sunday. Peled said two of the passengers who signed waivers acknowledging deportation have been released from custody and deported.

Among those arrested was former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Mairead Maguire, the 1977 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for co-founding a group that worked for peace in Northern Ireland. McKinney was arrested before under similar circumstances. Peled said, "Former congresswoman McKinney is not cooperating with the authorities” and refusing to sign the waiver. A blog entry Thursday on a MySpace page for McKinney said the passengers refused to admit in writing to violating the blockade and trespassing Israeli territorial waters.