American sailors handed over control of a captured North Korean-flagged oil tanker to Libyan forces while in international waters today, a spokesman for the Libyan navy said.
The saga of the tanker Morning Glory, which authorities now say is bound for the capital Tripoli, has illustrated the extreme weakness of Libya's government, vying with militias for dominance since the 2011 ouster and death of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Officials also said that they had interrogated the captain and learned that it belonged to a Saudi company.
The main force behind the tanker is a well-known militia commander in east Libya who was planning to sell oil in defiance of Tripoli. But Ibrahim Jedran's international partners have until remained unknown. North Korean officials say they have canceled the ship's registration after the incident.
Last week, US Navy SEALs seized the ship off the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, stopping an attempt by a Libyan militia to sell its shipload of crude in defiance of Tripoli. A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that 34 sailors from the frigate USS Elrod were at that point aboard the tanker.
Jedran, whose fighters control the terminal where the tanker took on its load, is part of a movement demanding autonomy for the east of the country. He has warned the US against handing over the tanker and three of his fighters, reportedly including one of his brothers, who are on board.
Libyan authorities at first planned to bring the tanker Morning Glory to dock at the port of Zawiya refinery, 40 kilometers west of the capital Tripoli, according to Ayoub Qassem, spokesman for the Libyan navy.
However, just as it came into sight of Zawiya, the country's top prosecutor ordered that it head to Tripoli port for further investigation, Abdullah Rashed, supervisor of operations at Zawiya port, told The Associated Press.
Qassem had earlier told the official news agency LANA that three Libyan navy ships escorted the vessel into national waters.
