From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Oct 26 2009 - 13:07:20 EST
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091026/local/libyan-warship-fails-to-pick-up-migrants
Monday, 26th October 2009 - 10:30CET
Libya arrests two for organising migrants' crossing Migrants refused Maltese
assistance
The Libyan police, assisted by Italian officials, have arrested two men
suspected of having organised the crossing of 200 migrants from Libya to
Italy over the past few days.
The two, a 26-year-old man from Eritrea and the Libyan boat owner were
arrested at the same time as Italy assumed responsibility for the migrants
off Portopalo.
The boat was first spotted in the Libyan Rescue Region, 70 miles north of
Benghazi on Friday afternoon. The alert was raised when somebody on board
used a satellite phone to inform a migrant in Italy, who in turn informed
the Italian authorities and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
A Libyan warship which was meant to pick up the migrants yesterday did not
show up.
The Italian authorities had directed an Italian tanker, the Antignano, to
provide lee shelter to the migrants' boat, since it was too difficult to
transfer anybody on board because of the rough sea.The boat transited the
Maltese Search and Rescue Zone but the Maltese authorities insisted that the
migrants were not in distress or in immediate danger.
Informed sources close to the rescue operation reported that once the
*Antignano
*intercepted the migrants’ boat, Rome SRR Centre gave it instructions to
sail into the Maltese search and rescue area, despite the fact that the
closest port of call at the time was the Libyan port of Benghazi.
The boat meanwhile drifted closer to the Italian search and rescue zone,
with the tanker and a Maltese patrol boat close by. The captain of the
tanker confirmed to Italian media that the migrants refused offers of
assistance from the Maltse patrol boat because they wanted to get to Italy.
The Italian tug boat reached the migrants at 1.15 this afternoon.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----