A Sicilian fishing cooperative says a boat with seven crew members has been taken by armed men 40 miles (65 kilometers) off Libya, and was being brought to the Libyan port of Misurata.
Cooperative spokesman Francesco Mezzapelle said port authorities were alerted today by another Italian fishing boat in the area, and that the cooperative president was in touch with both Libyan authorities and the Italian foreign ministry. Mezzapelle said the armed men did not appear to be from the Libyan military.
The crew members were three Sicilians and four Tunisians. There were no reports of injuries.
Mezzapelle says there have been a dozen such seizures since 2005 when Libya asserted that its territorial waters extended more than 70 miles off shore well beyond international agreements.
