AD condemns Libyan threat to cause marine ecological disaster

Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Prof. Arnold Cassola has denounced a threat by Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan to bomb a North Korean vessel.

"It is unacceptable that Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is threatening to bomb the North Korean ship 'Morning Glory' that is laden with oil coming from the rebel provinces, with the precise intention of causing an environmental disaster.

"Is this the Ali Zeidan who has just declared that Malta is Libya's friend? Does Malta's best friend threaten to pollute our source of drinking water? With friends like these, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has to speak up vigorously and unequivocally."

Libya's defense ministry has issued orders to its military authorizing the use of force to stop a North Korea-flagged tanker loading crude oil sold by armed rebels seeking to bypass the Tripoli government, state media said on Sunday.

The rebels, who have seized three major Libyan ports since August to press demands for a greater share of oil revenues and political autonomy, received the tanker on Saturday at the Es Sider port in the volatile east.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Saturday Libya would bomb the 37,000-tonne tanker if it tried to exit the port, one of Libya's biggest oil export terminals.

State news agency LANA said on Sunday the defense ministry had issued orders to the military and warned the tanker's owner.

Spokesmen for both the state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) and the protesters said the tanker was still docked at the port. Local newspaper al-Wasat said the tanker had loaded $36 million of crude.

The rebels are led by former anti-Gaddafi commander Ibrahim Jathran, who used to be in charge of a brigade paid by the state to protect petroleum facilities but turned against the government and seized the port and two others in the east with thousands of his men in August.

In January, the Libyan navy fired on a Maltese-flagged tanker that it said tried to load oil from the protesters in Es Sider, successfully chasing it away.