Ankara has prevented an inspection of a Turkish cargo vessel stopped by the German military near the Libyan coast, the Spiegel news website reported on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Ankara has prevented an inspection of a Turkish cargo vessel stopped by the German military near the Libyan coast, the Spiegel news website reported on Monday.
According to the news outlet, cargo ship Rosaline A was stopped on Sunday by Germany's frigate Hamburg approximately 124 miles to the north of Bengazi as the EU naval operation IRINI (Greek for "peace") received information about the ship smuggling weapons to Libya in violation of the UN embargo.
When the German forces boarded the ship, Turkey issued a protest, telling IRINI representatives that Ankara has not granted a permission to inspect the ship. Germany had to immediately stop searching the ship, which was able to continue its voyage toward Libya. It was subsequently scheduled to enter the port of Misrata.
On June 14, 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing inspections of vessels suspected of breaking the 2011 arms embargo on Libya, which is engulfed in hostilities between the Libyan National Army and the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in the west.
The armed conflict escalated in 2019, prompting an international peacemaking efforts. In January 2019, an international conference took place in Berlin, in which Russia, the United States, the European Union, Turkey and Egypt participated. The conference's participants promised to commit to the 2011 embargo as well as subsequent UN resolutions.
To better combat the arms smuggling, the European Union launched the IRINI mission on March 31. It conducts inspections of ships near the coast of Libya as well as using aerial and satellite assets to monitor smuggling via aerial and land routes. The mission's mandate is expected to last until March 31, 2021, but could be extended.
The initiative was met with criticism by Ankara, which is currently supporting the GNA. Turkey claimed the operation did not take into account arms sent to the forces of GNA's rival � the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar.
