Turkish official wants probe into Israel raid

Turkey's foreign minister has denounced Israel's raid on a ship taking aid to Gaza as "barbarous" at a conference in Istanbul.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the incident, in which nine Turks died, should draw attention to Israel's "inhuman and unlawful blockade against Gaza".

Davutoglu called on Israel to accept an international probe into the raid proposed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

He suggested that failure to do so would be a tacit admission that Israel had something to hide.

Israel's ambassador to the US has said they reject the idea. Israel says it has the right to launch its own inquiry.

Turkey wants a final declaration by the end of the two-day meeting of the Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

Meanwhile, an Israeli naval patrol has killed at least four Palestinian militants off the coast of Gaza.

Hamas security officials and the Israeli army both confirmed the deaths of the men, who were in diving gear.

A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Force said: "An Israeli naval patrol spotted a boat with four men in diving suits on their way to carry out a terror attack and fired at them."

Hamas security sources said a fifth man was missing, presumed dead.