US Navy SEALs take control of oil tanker hijacked in Libya: Pentagon

U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker that had was seized earlier this month at a Libyan port by three armed men, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

No one was hurt in the boarding operation conducted late on March 16, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

"The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of As-Sidra," his statement said. 

The ship, which departed from the eastern Libyan port of Al-Sidra - controlled by rebels seeking autonomy from the authorities in Tripoli - is reported to have loaded at least 234,000 barrels of crude.

Pyongyang last week however denied any responsibility for the tanker. The ship was operated by an Egypt-based company that was allowed to temporarily use the North Korean flag under a contract with Pyongyang, North Korean state news agency KCNA said March 12.

Pyongyang had "cancelled and deleted" the ship's North Korean registry, as it violated its law "on the registry of ships and the contract that prohibited it from transporting contraband cargo."
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-navy-seals-take-control-of-oil-tanker-hijacked-in-libya-pentagon.aspx?pageID=238&nID=63677&NewsCatID=357
17/3/14
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Related:

• U.S. Navy SEALs board rogue Libyan oil ship...

• Libyan troops seize North-Korea-flagged oil tanker ... 

• Possible navy attack on North Korea-flagged tanker a "declaration of war". - Libyan rebels

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• Libya threatens to bomb N Korea-flagged oil tanker if it ignores Navy orders

• Threat Issued in Libyan Oil Export Dispute ...

• Libya sends navy to stop North Korean tanker...

• Libya to intercept or strike oil tanker: MP...

Possible navy attack on North Korea-flagged tanker a "declaration of war". - Libyan rebels

An armed movement which has seized oil ports in eastern Libya said on Sunday any attempt by government forces to attack a North Korea-flagged tanker loading crude at a terminal under its control would be "like a declaration of war".

Abb-Rabbo al-Barassi, self-declared prime minister of the movement, warned Libya's navy not to "harm" the tanker docked at Es Sider, according to a statement.


"Such a move would be a declaration of war," said the statement, sent to Reuters by a spokesman.

Reuters
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_09/Possible-navy-attack-on-North-Korea-flagged-tanker-a-declaration-of-war-Libyan-rebels-4940/
9/3/14
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Related:

• Libya threatens to bomb N Korea-flagged oil tanker if it ignores Navy orders

• Threat Issued in Libyan Oil Export Dispute ...

• Libya sends navy to stop North Korean tanker...

• Libya to intercept or strike oil tanker: MP...

Libya threatens to bomb N Korea-flagged oil tanker if it ignores Navy orders

Libya will bomb a North Korea-flagged oil tanker trying to load crude at an eastern port controlled by armed protesters if the vessel fails to follow orders from the Navy, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Saturday.

"The tanker will be bombed if it doesn't follow orders when leaving (the port). This will be an environmental disaster," Zeidan told reporters, calling the docking of the tanker a criminal act violating Libyan's sovereignty.

Authorities had ordered the arrest of the tanker's crew, he said. His comments were the first government reaction since the tanker reached Es Sider port, where protesters earlier said they had started exporting oil, bypassing Tripoli.

Voice of Russia, Reuters
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_08/Libya-threatens-to-bomb-N-Korea-flagged-oil-tanker-if-it-ignores-Navy-orders-8327/
8/3/14

ENI warns may stop gas exports from Libya to Italy. -Mellitah terminal has been attacked by protesters.

Protesters have blocked access to a major gas terminal in Libya, the head of Italian oil and gas giant ENI said Wednesday, warning it may be forced to stop exports to Italy altogether.

ENI is the biggest foreign oil company in Libya and runs a pipeline to Sicily from the Mellitah gas terminal in the troubled country.

"What we are worried about at the moment is the Mellitah terminal, which has been attacked by protesters, pushing us to stop exports towards Italy," Italian media quoted chief executive Paolo Scaroni as saying.


However, Scaroni said he did not forsee problems with gas supply to Italy.

Contacted by AFP, the ENI press office was unable to say whether the attackers were armed.

Last week, protesters from Libya's minority Amazigh Berber ethnic group held a sit-in at the Mellitah terminal to demand greater rights.

Berbers make up about 10 percent of Libya's population. They were persecuted under former dictator Moamer Kadhafi and feel marginalised under the new regime even though they played a key role in the 2011 uprising.

The company that manages the Mellitah terminal is owned jointly by ENI and Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC). It supplies Italy with 17 million cubic metres of gas a day.
 hurriyetdailynews.com
6/11/13
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Four African nations agree to improve use of key water resource under UN-backed plan. -Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan to ensure the equitable use of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System.

Photo: growingblue.com

18 September 2013 – Four African nations today agreed to a United Nations-backed plan that seeks to optimize the use of a key underground aquifer system and improve the management of water resources.
The Strategic Action Programme, signed at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), commits Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan to ensure the equitable use of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, a huge water resource that lies beneath the four nations.
It also commits the countries to strengthen and build on a previously existing regional coordination mechanism, in part by establishing a new Joint Authority for the Nubian Aquifer System, according to a news release issued by the IAEA.
“I congratulate all involved on this significant achievement,” said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano. “Water is a key resource, and effective management and use of such water resources is essential for the future.”

The Programme lays the groundwork for improving cooperation among the four arid nations and for strengthening their capacity to monitor and manage the aquifer effectively, noted the Agency.

It added that, with growing populations and decreasing water availability from other sources in the region, the aquifer is under mounting pressure. “Removing water without a clear understanding of transboundary and other implications threatens water quality and has the potential to harm biodiversity and accelerate land degradation,” the IAEA pointed out.
The Programme resulted from a joint technical cooperation project of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the IAEA.

“UNDP would like to congratulate the Governments of Egypt, Libya, Chad and Sudan for achieving this important milestone towards the cooperative management of their shared sub-surface waters which will help to ensure maintenance of livelihoods and ecosystems dependent upon the aquifer,” said its Administrator, Helen Clark.
The Nubian aquifer is the world’s largest known ‘fossil’ water aquifer system, meaning that the water is ancient and non-renewable, according to the IAEA.

The joint technical cooperation project began in 2006 and has already completed a sophisticated model of the aquifer to assist the four countries in optimizing use of the aquifer to meet human needs, avoid transboundary conflict, and protect ecosystems dependent upon the resource.

The IAEA contributes to the project in part by employing isotopic hydrology techniques to monitor the quantity and quality of groundwater and how it moves underground.
 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45877&Cr=water&Cr1=management#.Ujnsa3-IzJc
18/9/13
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Photo: NASA