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N Korean ship loads oil at Libyan port: Report

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 8, 2014 11:48PM GMT

A North Korean-flagged tanker has begun loading oil at a rebel-controlled Libyan port in the east of the country, a report says.

The ship started loading at the Es Sider port on Saturday despite earlier threats by the Libyan government to bomb the ship, Reuters quoted port and oil officials as saying.

"The loading has started,' a port worker said, which was confirmed by a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC).

Earlier in the day, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on television that 'the tanker will be bombed if it doesn't follow orders when leaving (the port)."

Meanwhile, Abd-Rabbo al-Barassi, the head of the self-declared Barqa government, said the central government had failed to meet the rebels' demands to share oil wealth, investigate oil corruption, and to grant them regional autonomy.

'We tried to reach a deal with the government, but they and parliament ... were too busy with themselves and didn't even discuss our demands,' he said at a televised ceremony in Es Sider, adding, 'If anyone attacks, we will respond to that.'

A local television station controlled by the rebels showed the footage of the ceremony, in which the rebels were busy slaughtering a camel to celebrate their first oil shipment as a tanker was seen in the distance.

On Tuesday, the North Korean-flagged tanker, called Morning Glory, tried to dock at Es Sider but port workers still loyal to the central government told the crew to return.

Libya has been witnessing numerous clashes between government forces and rival militia groups, who played a key role in the 2011 popular uprising that toppled former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Since August 2013, the rebels have managed to seize three major Libyan ports.

The rebels refuse to lay down arms despite efforts by the central government to impose law and order.

During a conference held in the Italian capital Rome on Thursday, senior officials from over 40 countries said that the ongoing tensions in Libya could slip out of control if a political solution was not found.

'The situation in Libya is very worrying,' French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters on the sidelines of the second Ministerial Conference on International Support to Libya.

NT/NN/AS