SEALs perform overnight mission to stop anti-government rebels
By Curt Cramer
If you had read the posting yesterday “Chaos: the Complete Disarray of the Now ‘Free’ Libya”, you may have noticed that one of the results of the lax central government intervention in the region was a “North Korean flagged” oil tanker, known as the Morning Glory, that had stolen crude oil from Libya earlier in the month from the port of Al-Sidra.
Libyan officials ordered the ship confiscated while it was still in Libyan territory, but it managed to escape, prompting their plea for international assistance in the matter, and a parliamentary vote in embarrassment that ousted the current prime minister just recently.
According to the Associated Press, the Morning Glory was boarded by US Navy SEALs late Sunday in a mission approved by President Obama and successfully arrested at sea, with no individuals harmed in the process. The SEALs boarded the craft in international waters just off the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus. It has been determined that the vessel is stateless, formerly of North Korea, which now claims to have nothing to do with the ship. Ownership of the vessel currently remains a mystery, other than it had been taken over by Libyan rebels.
The Pentagon said the vessel will now be returned to Libyan officials under control of sailors from the USS Stout, and escort by the US Navy.
The Libyan rebels arrested on-board are anti-government belligerents calling for greater shares of the oil profits, and autonomous control of the resources.
-Curt Cramer (@CurtisRemarc)
