LIBYA: Authorities at Zawiya port step up security as US forces hand over seized oil tanker to Libya

Record ID: 344447

  • Title: LIBYA: Authorities at Zawiya port step up security as US forces hand over seized oil tanker to Libya
  • Date: 22nd March 2014
  • Summary: ZAWIYA PORT, LIBYA (MARCH 22, 2014) (REUTERS) BOATS IN PORT BOAT WITH SIGN READING (Arabic and English): "AZZAWIYA" VARIOUS OF LIBYAN AUTHORITIES AT PORT BOATS IN PORT
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAVFQMZDIEAPYPHR868860M4X8
  • Story Text: The U.S. Navy handed over to Libyan authorities on Saturday (March 22) an oil tanker carrying crude that had been loaded at a port controlled by armed rebels in defiance of Tripoli's government.
    The Morning Glory tanker was due to arrive later on Saturday at a government-controlled port after being seized by U.S. commandos and escorted back through international waters by the U.S. Navy, Libyan officials said.
    Hours before the handover, at least 16 people were wounded when Libyan rebels occupying three eastern oil ports clashed with troops and attacked an army base, where pro-government forces had been preparing to break the rebel blockade.
    Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard overnight and after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized the ports last summer to demand a greater share in Libya's oil resources.
    U.S. special forces boarded and seized the Morning Glory tanker last Sunday (March 16) off Cyprus, days after it left Libya with a cargo of crude from one port, Es Sider, occupied by Jathran's men who had vowed to export oil themselves to resist Tripoli.
    The tanker had originally planned to go to Zawiya port from where its crude would be fed into the local refinery, which has been forced to lower its output because of a protest at another oil facility, the El Sharara oilfield, port officials said.
    But authorities decided at the last minute to let the ship dock first in the capital Tripoli to let the crew disembark, said Abdullah Rashid, controller at Zawiya port, which is located 55 km (34 miles) west of the capital.
    The struggle for control of Libya's vital petroleum resources is one of the key challenges facing the weak central government, which has still failed to secure the North African country three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
    Brigades of former anti-Gaddafi rebels and militias refuse to disarm and often use armed force or control of oil facilities to make demands on a state whose army is still in training.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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