US forces hand over seized oil tanker to Libya

ZAWIYA PORT, Libya — The US navy handed over to Libyan authorities on Saturday an oil tanker carrying crude that had been loaded at a port controlled by armed rebels in defiance of Tripoli’s government.

The Morning Glory tanker was due to arrive later on Saturday at Libya’s government-controlled Zawiya port after being seized by US commandos and escorted back through international waters by the US Navy, Libyan officials said.

Hours before the handover, at least 16 people were wounded when Libyan rebels occupying three eastern oil ports clashed with troops and attacked an army base, where pro-government forces had been preparing to break the rebel blockade.

Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard overnight and after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized the ports last summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil resources.

The struggle for control of Libya’s vital petroleum resources is one of the key challenges facing the weak central government, which has still failed to secure the North African country three years after the fall of Muammar Qadhafi.

Brigades of former anti-Qadhafi rebels and militias refuse to disarm and often use armed force or control of oil facilities to make demands on a state whose army is still in training.

US special forces boarded and seized the Morning Glory tanker last Sunday off Cyprus, days after it left Libya with a cargo of crude from one port, Es Sider, occupied by Jathran’s men who had vowed to export oil themselves to resist Tripoli.

“The handover took place in international waters off the coast of Libya, and the Government of Libya and its security forces are now in control of the vessel,” the US embassy said in a statement.

Once the Morning Glory docks, crude from the tanker will be fed into Zawiya refinery, which has been forced to lower its production because of a protest at another oil facility, the El Sharara oilfield, officials at Zawiya port said.

Zawiya port is 55km  west of the capital Tripoli.

The Tripoli government gave Jathran a two-week deadline on March 12 to end his port blockade or face a military assault, though analysts say Libya’s nascent armed forces may struggle to carry out that threat.

Jathran’s self-declared Cyrenaica government is demanding more autonomy for his eastern region. Attempts to broker a deal between the rebels and Tripoli have so far failed.

LANA state news agency said tribal community leaders helped stop the fighting earlier on Saturday between the rebels and Libyan soldiers. But the agency reported 16 people were wounded.