Crew Retook Italian Fishing Boat Seized Near Libya, Navy Says
By GAIA PIANIGIANI
New York Times
APRIL 17, 2015
ROME — The crew of an Italian fishing boat turned the tables on armed Libyans who tried to seize their vessel at sea on Friday, the Italian Navy said, describing a confused episode that ended with the navy taking control of the vessel and of one of the Libyans.
The episode took place in the Mediterranean off the coast of western Libya, in a stretch of sea where thousands of migrants have been rescued in recent weeks from decrepit vessels as they tried to make their way to Western Europe.
According to the navy, the fishing boat was in international waters about 55 miles northwest of the port of Misurata, which is controlled by one of the most powerful of Libya’s warring militias. Armed Libyan men on a tugboat stopped and boarded the fishing boat, demanding that it go to Misurata, according to the Sicilian fishing cooperative to which the boat belonged. One of the Libyan gunmen was left on the boat and the rest departed.
The seven crew members then overpowered the Libyan gunman, retook the helm and set sail for Italy, the cooperative said. Officials confirmed that the boat was already on its way home when an Italian naval vessel intercepted it. Naval personnel “boarded the Italian ship and took control,” the navy said, and the gunman was taken into custody.
The Libyan version of events was considerably different. Jamal Naji Zubia, a spokesman for one of the country’s two rival governments — the one based in Tripoli, the capital — said in a short statement that “an Italian fishing boat is caught by the Libyan coastal guards, Misurata branch, breaching the Libyan sovereignty of fishing rights.” He added that “the boat is in Misurata now for investigations, then released after.”
Misurata is one of Libya’s main commercial centers, and the city’s militias dominate the political faction that seized control of Tripoli last year. Along with their allies among the country’s moderate and extremist Islamist groups, the Misuratans are fighting a civil war against Libya’s internationally recognized government, which has taken refuge in the eastern part of the country. That side in the conflict is dominated by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset Gen. Khalifa Hifter, whose forces are fighting the Misuratans and Islamists.
Giuseppe Tumbiolo, the president of the fishing cooperative, said that another Italian in the area alerted the Italian port authorities about the seizure on Friday. He said that the crew of the seized boat was made up of three Italians and four Tunisians.
Mr. Tumbiolo said he was in contact with the authorities in Italy and Libya about the episode and similar recent cases. “We are confident we’ll find a solution soon, this is an ancient story,” he said.
Mr. Tumbiolo said that Italian fishing boats had been accosted off Libya at least a dozen times since 2005, including a kidnapping in 2012, but that they had little choice but to keep venturing into the area. “Desperation pushes our fishermen to sail into international waters looking for red prawns, our primary resource,” he said. “We had stopped through the latest disorder, but we have to keep on living, too.”
The flow of migrants attempting the risky crossing to Italy, and running into trouble on the way, continued on Friday. An Italian ship picked up 60 to 70 migrants at sea, many of whom were suffering from serious burns, according to officials of aid organizations on Lampedusa, the Italian island where the migrants landed. They said that the migrants had been injured in a gas-cylinder explosion several days earlier, before embarking for the boat trip, but that smugglers had refused to let them seek medical care.
New York Times
APRIL 17, 2015
ROME — The crew of an Italian fishing boat turned the tables on armed Libyans who tried to seize their vessel at sea on Friday, the Italian Navy said, describing a confused episode that ended with the navy taking control of the vessel and of one of the Libyans.
The episode took place in the Mediterranean off the coast of western Libya, in a stretch of sea where thousands of migrants have been rescued in recent weeks from decrepit vessels as they tried to make their way to Western Europe.
According to the navy, the fishing boat was in international waters about 55 miles northwest of the port of Misurata, which is controlled by one of the most powerful of Libya’s warring militias. Armed Libyan men on a tugboat stopped and boarded the fishing boat, demanding that it go to Misurata, according to the Sicilian fishing cooperative to which the boat belonged. One of the Libyan gunmen was left on the boat and the rest departed.
The seven crew members then overpowered the Libyan gunman, retook the helm and set sail for Italy, the cooperative said. Officials confirmed that the boat was already on its way home when an Italian naval vessel intercepted it. Naval personnel “boarded the Italian ship and took control,” the navy said, and the gunman was taken into custody.
The Libyan version of events was considerably different. Jamal Naji Zubia, a spokesman for one of the country’s two rival governments — the one based in Tripoli, the capital — said in a short statement that “an Italian fishing boat is caught by the Libyan coastal guards, Misurata branch, breaching the Libyan sovereignty of fishing rights.” He added that “the boat is in Misurata now for investigations, then released after.”
Misurata is one of Libya’s main commercial centers, and the city’s militias dominate the political faction that seized control of Tripoli last year. Along with their allies among the country’s moderate and extremist Islamist groups, the Misuratans are fighting a civil war against Libya’s internationally recognized government, which has taken refuge in the eastern part of the country. That side in the conflict is dominated by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset Gen. Khalifa Hifter, whose forces are fighting the Misuratans and Islamists.
Giuseppe Tumbiolo, the president of the fishing cooperative, said that another Italian in the area alerted the Italian port authorities about the seizure on Friday. He said that the crew of the seized boat was made up of three Italians and four Tunisians.
Mr. Tumbiolo said he was in contact with the authorities in Italy and Libya about the episode and similar recent cases. “We are confident we’ll find a solution soon, this is an ancient story,” he said.
Mr. Tumbiolo said that Italian fishing boats had been accosted off Libya at least a dozen times since 2005, including a kidnapping in 2012, but that they had little choice but to keep venturing into the area. “Desperation pushes our fishermen to sail into international waters looking for red prawns, our primary resource,” he said. “We had stopped through the latest disorder, but we have to keep on living, too.”
The flow of migrants attempting the risky crossing to Italy, and running into trouble on the way, continued on Friday. An Italian ship picked up 60 to 70 migrants at sea, many of whom were suffering from serious burns, according to officials of aid organizations on Lampedusa, the Italian island where the migrants landed. They said that the migrants had been injured in a gas-cylinder explosion several days earlier, before embarking for the boat trip, but that smugglers had refused to let them seek medical care.
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