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Africa North
Libya intercepts 350 migrants after duel at sea
2017-05-12
[AlAhram] Libya's coastguard on Wednesday intercepted a wooden boat packed with more than 350 migrants colonists after duelling with a German rescue ship and coming under fire from traffickers, the navy said.

The migrants colonists, who were bound for Italia, were picked up off the western city of Sabratha, said navy front man Ayoub Qassem.

The German non-governmental organization "Sea-Watch tried to disrupt the coastguard operation... inside Libyan waters and wanted to take the migrants colonists, on the pretext that Libya wasn't safe," Qassem told AFP.

The German non-governmental organization "Sea-Watch tried to disrupt the coastguard operation... inside Libyan waters and wanted to take the migrants colonists, on the pretext that Libya wasn't safe," Qassem told AFP.
Sea-Watch posted a video on Twitter of what it said was a Libyan coastguard vessel narrowly cutting across the bow of its ship.

"This EU-funded Libyan patrol vessel almost crashed (into) our civil rescue ship," read the caption.

Qassem also said the coastguard had come under fire from people traffickers, without reporting any casualties.

The migrants colonists were taken to a naval base in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, where an AFP photographer said most of them appeared to be from Morocco and Bangladesh.

According to international organizations, between 800,000 and one million people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, are currently in Libya hoping to make the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants colonists are being held in Libyan detention centres after entering the country illegally, an immigration official said on Tuesday.

The North African country has long been a stepping stone for migrants colonists seeking a better life in Europe. Smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the chaos which has engulfed Libya since its 2011 revolution.
Posted by:trailing wife

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Posted by: magpie   2017-05-12 15:24  

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Posted by: Frank G   2017-05-12 10:50  

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Posted by: Raj   2017-05-12 10:26  

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