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U.S. Navy SEALs Take Control of Diverted Oil Tanker U.S. SEALs Take Control of Diverted Libyan Oil Tanker
(about 5 hours later)
CAIRO — United States Navy commandos seized a diverted oil tanker in the Mediterranean waters southeast of Cyprus on Monday morning, thwarting an attempt by a breakaway Libyan militia to sell its contents on the black market, the Pentagon said. No one was hurt in the operation, the Pentagon said in a statement. CAIRO — United States Navy commandos seized a renegade tanker carrying illicit Libyan oil in the Mediterranean southeast of Cyprus on Monday, thwarting a breakaway militia’s attempt to sell the oil on the black market. No shots were fired, no one was injured, and the commandos captured three armed Libyans described by the ship’s captain as hijackers.
The diverted tanker, called the Morning Glory, had sailed into the eastern Libyan port of Sidra under a North Korean flag, but North Korea disavowed the ship and denied having provided any authorization. News reports have said it was operated by a company based in Alexandria, Egypt, and that after leaving Libyan waters it appeared to have sailed the Mediterranean in search of a buyer for its oil. The predawn raid, carried out by about two dozen Navy SEALs using high-speed boats from a nearby destroyer, rescued the fragile transitional government in Tripoli from a potentially catastrophic loss of control over its main source of revenue and last source of power: Libya’s vast oil reserves.
In a statement early Monday morning, the Pentagon said that the Libyan and Cypriot governments had requested American help in seizing control of the tanker. President Obama authorized the operation just after 10 p.m. Sunday in Washington, the statement said. Within a few hours a Navy SEAL team on the guided missile destroyer Roosevelt boarded and took control of the tanker, “a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” the statement said. The tanker had threatened to uncork those reserves by enabling a militia that has blockaded Libya’s major oil ports for the last eight months to begin selling the oil on its own, independent of the state. The government in Tripoli sputtered with furious warnings of retribution but appeared powerless to stop the shipment. Flying under a North Korean flag as cover but reportedly owned by an Arab shipping company, the tanker, called the Morning Glory, left the Libyan port of Sidra unmolested last week with a hull full of illicit oil.
The Roosevelt also provided helicopter support, the statement added, but it did not say how many Americans had participated in the assault or what force might have been used. The State Department warned last week that it considered the shipment a “theft from the Libyan people” and noted that, along with the Libyan government, several American companies also have stakes in the oil.
The American intervention is a salvation to the fragile transitional government in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, which would have faced the loss of its main source of revenue and its sole source of political power if renegade militias succeeded in selling Libya’s oil. Despite days of furious bluster, the Libyan authorities were unable to stop the tanker from arriving in Sidra early last week or from leaving with the oil a few days later. The loss of control over oil revenue threatened the government so gravely that the transitional government appeared to teeter, with Parliament voting to remove its prime minister without any consensus on his long-term replacement. Since then, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday, the governments of Libya and Cyprus had requested American assistance in apprehending the tanker. President Obama authorized the operations just after 10 p.m. Sunday in Washington, the statement said.
The seizing of the oil, which the United States Navy says it is now returning to Libya, is also a blow to the ambitions of Ibrahim Jathran, the leader of the eastern Libyan militia that sought to sell the oil. Mr. Jathran, who has presented himself as a kind of Libyan Robin Hood, has led an eight-month blockade of Libya’s main oil ports to demand more political autonomy and a bigger cut of the oil revenue for his region, which contains most of the country’s oil reserves. Within 10 minutes — before dawn Monday over the Mediterranean — the SEALs launched their boats from the Roosevelt, a guided-missile destroyer, which also provided backup support from a shipboard helicopter.
But in addition to depriving the Libyan government of critical revenue, Mr. Jathran has also irked American and international concerns that have stakes in the Libyan oil industry. The willingness of the United States military to stop illicit exports appears to even out the balance of power between the government in Tripoli and Mr. Jathran’s militia in the east. Though Tripoli has been unable to force Mr. Jathran to reopen the ports, he appears unable to sell the oil on his own either, returning the two sides to a stalemate. Quickly fanning out across the Morning Glory, the SEALs captured and disarmed the three Libyans described by the tanker’s crew as hijackers, American officials said. The mission was complete within two hours of boarding, they added.
The Pentagon said that a team of Navy sailors from the guided missile destroyer Stout would deliver the tanker to a Libyan port. The official said the three Libyans would be in United States custody until the tanker returned to Libya, in about four days.
Officials said maritime records indicated the ship was owned by a company based in the United Arab Emirates but operated by a company based in Saudi Arabia. Officials said the crew included 21 people of mixed nationalities, including six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans, two Syrians, two Sudanese and two Eritreans.
In a statement on Monday, the Libyan government expressed appreciation to “all countries who participated in this operation” and gave special thanks to “the United States of America and the Republic of Cyprus.”
The transitional government established in Tripoli after the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011 has suffered many humiliations, including the kidnapping of its prime minister by small group of militiamen and the recent sacking of its Parliament by a lightly armed mob. But the loss of control of its oil revenue, despite days of bluster by the prime minister at the time, Ali Zeidan, appeared to shake the government far more seriously.
Almost as soon as the tanker reached international waters last week, the transitional Parliament voted to remove Mr. Zeidan from office, even before a consensus on who would succeed him could be reached. The Parliament made the interim defense minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, the acting prime minister for a term of two weeks.
Now the American intervention has dealt a serious blow to perhaps the Libyan government’s greatest foe, Ibrahim Jathran, the 33-year-old leader of the eastern Libyan militia that blockaded the ports and tried to sell the oil.
Mr. Jathran, a former rebel who fought against Colonel Qaddafi, was initially named to lead a force protecting the oil infrastructure. He has since allied himself with the so-called federalist movement demanding more power, autonomy and oil revenue for the nation’s eastern region, which contains most of Libya’s reserves. He has refused to reopen the ports until the central government agrees to investigate allegations of corruption in its oil sales and give the east a larger cut of the proceeds.
America’s willingness to foil his illicit exports goes a long way to level the balance of power. Tripoli has been unable to force Mr. Jathran to reopen the ports or allow the official sale of the oil. Now, he appears unable to sell the oil on his own, returning both sides to a stalemate — with the oil remaining in place.
Still, even as the tanker sailed back, there were reminders that the situation was not Libya’s only source of political instability. A series of car bombings on Monday at a military academy graduation ceremony in Benghazi killed at least eight people, most believed to be graduating cadets, and wounded more than a dozen, hospital and security officials said.
Islamist militants in Benghazi, who oppose federalists like Mr. Jathran, have been waging a campaign of bombings and assassinations usually aimed at former members of Qaddafi security forces. But Monday’s attack appeared to be the first time the militants have targeted recruits to Libya’s fledgling national Army, cadets with no possible ties to the Qaddafi government.
Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Suliman Ali Zway from Benghazi, Libya.