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Libyan navy admits confrontation with charity's rescue boat
Source: The Guardian
Libyan navy admits confrontation with charity's rescue boat
Navy spokesman reportedly says its patrol fired warning shots
to MSF refugee vessel, but aid group says attackers fired at boat
Patrick Kingsley and Chris Stephen
Sunday 28 August 2016 14.53 BST
The Libyan navy has admitted taking part in a confrontation with the refugee rescue boat the Bourbon Argos in international waters off the coast of Libya, following days of speculation about who attacked it.
A navy spokesman was reported to have claimed that Libyan forces had approached the rescue boat, chartered by the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), after its crew allegedly refused to identify themselves. But the navy denied that it had fired directly at the MSF boat, and claimed it did not board the boat itself.
“A Libyan coastguard patrol was about 25 miles offshore. She observed an unidentified vessel to which the order was given to stop, but [the vessel] did not comply,” Brig Ayoub Qassim, a spokesman for the Libyan navy, was quoted as saying by Radio France International.
Qassim added: “We fired five warning shots. We did not storm the boat, we are categorical [about that]. And the patrol then returned to the coast. We informed Operation Sophia” – an EU naval operation based off the coast of Libya – “of this incident and we have opened an investigation. We are the Libyan coastguard and the boat should stop and identify themselves.”
The Libyan navy’s claims are inconsistent with MSF’s account. The aid group says the attackers fired at least 13 bullets directly at its boat, some of which hit the ship’s bridge, or control room. MSF also says the attackers boarded the boat for approximately 50 minutes.
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Navy spokesman reportedly says its patrol fired warning shots
to MSF refugee vessel, but aid group says attackers fired at boat
Patrick Kingsley and Chris Stephen
Sunday 28 August 2016 14.53 BST
The Libyan navy has admitted taking part in a confrontation with the refugee rescue boat the Bourbon Argos in international waters off the coast of Libya, following days of speculation about who attacked it.
A navy spokesman was reported to have claimed that Libyan forces had approached the rescue boat, chartered by the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), after its crew allegedly refused to identify themselves. But the navy denied that it had fired directly at the MSF boat, and claimed it did not board the boat itself.
“A Libyan coastguard patrol was about 25 miles offshore. She observed an unidentified vessel to which the order was given to stop, but [the vessel] did not comply,” Brig Ayoub Qassim, a spokesman for the Libyan navy, was quoted as saying by Radio France International.
Qassim added: “We fired five warning shots. We did not storm the boat, we are categorical [about that]. And the patrol then returned to the coast. We informed Operation Sophia” – an EU naval operation based off the coast of Libya – “of this incident and we have opened an investigation. We are the Libyan coastguard and the boat should stop and identify themselves.”
The Libyan navy’s claims are inconsistent with MSF’s account. The aid group says the attackers fired at least 13 bullets directly at its boat, some of which hit the ship’s bridge, or control room. MSF also says the attackers boarded the boat for approximately 50 minutes.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/libyan-navy-admits-confrontation-charity-rescue-boat-msf
