Gaza convoy takes a break in Algiers

The Viva Palestina aid convoy took a well-deserved rest stop in Algiers on Monday following a marathon overnight desert crossing.

The convoy, made up of 110 vehicles and snaking a mile across the mighty Sahara desert, rolled into the Algerian capital in the small hours of Monday morning.

The British mercy mission to the devastated Gaza Strip was held up in the Moroccan desert border city of Oujda on Saturday, while organizers negotiated with Algerian authorities for permission to cross the frontier.

The border has been closed for 15 years since an incident in Marrakech in 1994 wrecked relations between the two north African nations.

But, in an unprecedented decision, the convoy was allowed through late on Saturday.

Speaking from Algiers, convoy organizer Kevin Ovenden told the Morning Star: "We're making good time. We've had a tremendous response on the streets of the Algerian capital. It seems like everybody knows that the convoy is happening."

Local people have turned out in their thousands to cheer the convoy on everywhere it has traveled in Morocco and Algeria.

It has received free fuel courtesy of the Algerian government and other well-wishers. In both Morocco and Algeria, food has also been provided by the government and local people supporting the convoy.

The convoy will now wind its way across Tunisia and into Libya.

A large Libyan charity will be joining it in the capital Tripoli and many more are expected to join when the convoy reaches Cairo, including a convoy which set off from Glasgow on Saturday.