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| U.S. to hand over Morning Glory to Libya |
| 2014-03-22 |
| The U.S. Navy will meet Libyan authorities in international waters in the next day or two to hand over a tanker carrying contraband Libyan oil seized this week by U.S. commandos in the Mediterranean, the Pentagon said on Friday, Reuters reported. A Navy SEAL commando team boarded the Morning Glory from an inflatable boat early on Monday as it lay off Cyprus, taking control of the vessel in less than two hours with no one hurt and no shots fired. "We are going to hand over the Morning Glory to Libyan naval authorities within the next day or two in international waters, just outside of the territorial water line of Libya," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said. Warren said the United States was also handing over the three Libyan hijackers and the ship's original 21-member crew, which the Pentagon has said included six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans, two Syrians, two Sudanese and two Eritreans. "To my knowledge, none of the crew asked for U.S. asylum," Warren said. The Morning Glory had been escorted by the USS Stout, a guided-missile destroyer. But Warren said that the Stout had been relieved on Wednesday, and that the tanker was now being escorted by the USS Elrod, a guided-missile frigate. Some 34 sailors from the Elrod were aboard the Morning Glory, he said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Since Morning Glory seeds contain small amounts of LSD... the crew and hijackers (being seeds of the ship) should be checked for drugs before the turnover. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-03-22 16:37 |