Nato denies leaving migrants to die at sea off Libya amid battle

BRUSSELS, Monday

Nato denied today a report that one of its aircraft carriers left 61 migrants to die in the Mediterranean sea after they fled the conflict in Libya.

The left-leaning Guardian newspaper in Britain reported that a boat carrying 72 migrants had left Tripoli on its way to Italy on March 25 but was left drifting for 16 days after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored pleas for help.

During the ordeal, the boat made contact with a military helicopter from an unknown nation and later, around March 29 or 30, was carried close to an aircraft carrier, the daily said, citing survivors.

A rescue never materialised, however, and the out-of-fuel ship eventually washed up on western Libyan beach on April 10, the Guardian said. Only 11 people survived while the rest had died of thirst and starvation at sea.

The Guardian said the aircraft was likely France’s Charles de Gaulle.

Nato said only one aircraft carrier was under Nato command at the time, Italy’s Garibaldi, which was operating 100 nautical miles out to sea. “Any claims that a Nato aircraft carrier spotted and then ignored the vessel in distress are wrong,” said Nato deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero.

Alliance vessels are “fully aware” of the responsibilities under maritime laws and helped to rescue some 500 people near Tripoli who were later transferred to Italy in late March, she said.

“The Nato units involved saw and heard no trace of any other vessels in the area where safety of life at sea was threatened,” Ms Romero said. The Guardian said the boat was carrying 47 Ethiopians, seven Nigerians, seven Eritreans, six Ghanaians and five Sudanese migrants.

Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in Tunisia and Libya have undertaken the perilous voyage to Italy’s island of Lampedusa in the past several weeks. Nato warships began to enforce an arms embargo off Libya’s coast on March 23 to prevent Muammar Gaddafi’s regime from shipping in weapons and mercenaries.

Alliance combat jets taking off from aircraft carriers and land bases are also conducting air strikes against regime forces threatening cities and civilians.

Meanwhile, time is running out for Gaddafi, Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, even as the strongman’s forces laying siege to Misrata intensified their assault on the lifeline port.

“The game is over for Gaddafi. He should realise sooner rather than later that there’s no future for him or his regime,” the Nato secretary-general told CNN’s “State of the Union” programme late Sunday.

“We have stopped Gaddafi in his tracks. His time is running out. He’s more and more isolated,” Mr Rasmussen said.

Given the “wind of change” sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East, the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the growing pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Danish former prime minister said he was “very optimistic” that Gaddafi would ultimately lose his decades-old grip on power. (AFP)