* Offshore supply vessel heading northwest towards Mellitah
* Pro-Gaddafi military personnel are on board with crew
ROME, March 21 (Reuters) - An Italian tugboat, held for nearly 24 hours in Tripoli, is zig-zagging northwest along the Libyan coast with pro-Gaddafi military personnel on board, its operator said on Monday.
The offshore supply vessel, crewed by 8 Italians, two Indians and a Ukrainian was detained in Libya at around 1600 GMT on Saturday, shortly before French aircraft fired the first shots against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The vessel left Tripoli at around 1300 GMT on Sunday with its crew along with members of Libya's armed forces aboard and its destination was unknown, said a spokesman from Augusta Offshore, operator and manager of the ship. "It left the port (of Tripoli) and it is navigating between Mellitah and Tripoli," the spokesman said.
"We are not quite sure where it is or where it is going. But obviously the Italian foreign ministry is involved in trying to negotiate the release of the ship," he said. "We know Libyan military personnel are on board."
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told Italian television that the crew was still aboard the the vessel, which had been engaged for a Libyan client of Italian oil group Eni.
"It's heading west but we don't really know where it's going because it's zig-zagging along and there are armed Libyan soldiers aboard," he told Canale 5 television. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul and James Mackenzie; Editing by Louise Ireland)
* Pro-Gaddafi military personnel are on board with crew
ROME, March 21 (Reuters) - An Italian tugboat, held for nearly 24 hours in Tripoli, is zig-zagging northwest along the Libyan coast with pro-Gaddafi military personnel on board, its operator said on Monday.
The offshore supply vessel, crewed by 8 Italians, two Indians and a Ukrainian was detained in Libya at around 1600 GMT on Saturday, shortly before French aircraft fired the first shots against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The vessel left Tripoli at around 1300 GMT on Sunday with its crew along with members of Libya's armed forces aboard and its destination was unknown, said a spokesman from Augusta Offshore, operator and manager of the ship. "It left the port (of Tripoli) and it is navigating between Mellitah and Tripoli," the spokesman said.
"We are not quite sure where it is or where it is going. But obviously the Italian foreign ministry is involved in trying to negotiate the release of the ship," he said. "We know Libyan military personnel are on board."
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told Italian television that the crew was still aboard the the vessel, which had been engaged for a Libyan client of Italian oil group Eni.
"It's heading west but we don't really know where it's going because it's zig-zagging along and there are armed Libyan soldiers aboard," he told Canale 5 television. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul and James Mackenzie; Editing by Louise Ireland)
No comments:
Post a Comment