ATHENS, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Greek authorities have seized a freighter carrying an undeclared shipment of weapons en route from Turkey to Libya, coast guard officials said on Wednesday.
A coast guard patrol boat raided the vessel on Tuesday, 20 nautical miles northeast of Crete. The freighter, with a crew of seven and which had sailed from the Turkish port of Iskenderun, was escorted to Heraklion port on the island.
The United Nations has imposed an embargo on weapons shipments to Libya.
“The ship’s crew is being questioned and the content of its containers will be checked,” a coast guard official said, declining to be named.
The coast guard provided no further details of what kind of arms the freighter had on board, or its ownership.
Libya is divided between two rival governments battling for control, leaving a security vacuum being exploited by migrant smugglers and Islamic militants. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Matthias Williams and John Stonestreet)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.
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