- Title: LIBYA: Libya threatens to bomb N.Korean tanker if it ships oil from rebel port
- Date: 9th March 2014
- Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (MARCH 8, 2014) (REUTERS) LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER, ALI ZEIDAN, ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE FLAG OF LIBYA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER, ALI ZEIDAN, SAYING: "Last night a ship called Morning Glory entered Libyan waters and docked at the oil exporting port of Es Sider. Of course this is a violation of international law. The state of Libya has warned the ship and with the embassy of North Korea, as the ship is flying their flag, contacted its captain by phone but the captain said that an armed group jumped on the ship, he called them militia." PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN PRIME MINISTER, ALI ZEIDAN, SAYING: "The tanker will be bombed if it doesn't follow orders when leaving. This will be an environmental disaster." CAMERAMAN ZEIDAN DEPARTING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 24th March 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- Country: Libya
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAENSBIPRD4ARRZSHMR5T1JX4Z
- Story Text: Libya threatened on Saturday (March 8) to bomb a North Korean-flagged tanker if it tried to ship oil from a rebel-controlled port, in a major escalation of a standoff over the country's petroleum wealth.
The North Korean-flagged Morning Glory, which was previously flagged in Liberia, had been circling off the Libyan coast for days.
"Last night a ship called Morning Glory entered Libyan waters and docked at the oil exporting port of Es Sider. Of course this is a violation of international law," Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said.
"The state of Libya has warned the ship and with the embassy of North Korea, as the ship is flying their flag, contacted its captain by phone but the captain said that an armed group jumped on the ship, he called them militia," he added.
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 export terminal, one of the country's biggest.
Zeidan warned that "the tanker will be bombed if it doesn't follow orders when leaving. This will be an environmental disaster."
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.
The vessel had tried to dock at Es Sider on Tuesday (March 4), when port workers still loyal to the central government had told the crew to turn back.
Tanks at Es Sider and other seized ports are full, according to oil sources.
A successful independent oil shipment would be a blow to the government. Tripoli had said earlier it would destroy tankers trying to buy oil from Ibrahim Jathran, a former anti-Gaddafi rebel who seized the port and two others with thousands of his men in August.
It is extremely unusual for an oil tanker flagged in secretive North Korea to operate in the Mediterranean, shipping sources said.
A spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said the Morning Glory was owned by a Saudi company.
It had changed ownership in the past few weeks and previously been called Gulf Glory, according to a shipping source.
The Saudi embassy in Tripoli said in a statement that the kingdom's government had nothing to do with the tanker, without saying who owned it. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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