LIBYA: North Korean-flagged tanker starts loading oil at seized Libyan port - officials

Record ID: 344407

  • Title: LIBYA: North Korean-flagged tanker starts loading oil at seized Libyan port - officials
  • Date: 9th March 2014
  • Summary: ES-SIDER PORT, LIBYA (MARCH 8, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE TO ES-SIDER PORT SIGN READING "ES-SIDER OIL PORT" VARIOUS OF REBELS KEEPING ES-SIDER PORT SECURE VARIOUS OF LONG SHOT OF THE NORTH KOREAN-FLAGGED TANKER DOCKED AT ES-SIDER PORT
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7TUQPUPGGH69S8TJ9HDSXW1NA
  • Story Text: A North Korean-flagged tanker has started loading oil at a Libyan port seized by rebels in the east of the country, port and oil officials said on Saturday (March 8).
    The Libyan government threatened earlier on Saturday to bomb the vessel if it tried to ship the cargo out of Es Sider port.
    The rebels want to sell the oil to bypass the government and get a greater share of the country's oil wealth.
    "The loading has started," a port worker told Reuters. A spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed this.
    The rebels, who have seized three major Libyan ports since August to press their demands for more autonomy, warned Tripoli against staging an attack to halt the oil sale after the tanker docked at Es Sider terminal, one of the country's biggest.
    The oil dispute is just one facet of the deepening turmoil in the North African OPEC member, where the government is struggling to control militias who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but kept their weapons and now challenge state authority.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register