April 17, 2015 — The crew of an Italian fishing boat turned the tables on armed Libyans who tried to seize their vessel at sea on Friday, the Italian Navy said, describing a confused episode that ended with the navy taking control of the vessel and of one of the Libyans.
The episode took place in the Mediterranean off the coast of western Libya, in a stretch of sea where thousands of migrants have been rescued in recent weeks from decrepit vessels as they tried to make their way to Western Europe.
According to the navy, the fishing boat was in international waters about 55 miles northwest of the port of Misurata, which is controlled by one of the most powerful of Libya’s warring militias. Armed Libyan men on a tugboat stopped and boarded the fishing boat, demanding that it go to Misurata, according to the Sicilian fishing cooperative to which the boat belonged. One of the Libyan gunmen was left on the boat and the rest departed.
The seven crew members then overpowered the Libyan gunman, retook the helm and set sail for Italy, the cooperative said. Officials confirmed that the boat was already on its way home when an Italian naval vessel intercepted it. Naval personnel “boarded the Italian ship and took control,” the navy said, and the gunman was taken into custody.
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