Wait goes on for Paveen’s anxious family

AID worker Paveen Yaqub will be reunited with her family in Oldham on Sunday after being freed from prison in Israel yesterday.

Paveen (39), an Oldham Council LIFT project worker, was among 37 British nationals who arrived safely in Turkey last night after being deported.

Her sister Nosheen (31), from Skipton Street, Abbeyhills, today confirmed Paveen had arrived safe and well in Istanbul, where she will be staying until she boards a flight to Manchester on Sunday.

She said: “We received a call at 2.44 this morning and she sounded relieved but very upset for the people that were killed.

“We are really looking forward to having her back.”

Thirty-seven British nationals were among almost 700 pro-Palestinian activists detained by the Israeli’s after commandos intercepted an aid flotilla heading for the Gaza strip.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said they believed everyone held at the Be’eer Sheva prison in Israel, including the Britons, had been deported yesterday and were due to arrive in Turkey last night.

She said they would be making their own way back to Britain from Istanbul.

Paveen joined the flotilla last month. It later came under attack by Israeli troops after defying a blockade on humanitarian aid.

A total of nine people were confirmed dead following the raid.

Fears for her safety arose when Paveen’s name appeared on an unconfirmed list — released by The Muslim News website — of 19 people believed to have been killed.

However, she managed to phone her brother Taraf Yaqub on Tuesday evening to say she was well.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the Israeli action as “completely unacceptable” and called for the lifting of the three-year blockade of Gaza.