In a blatant violation of Libya’s sovereignty, Italy’s Navy watched over Italian trawlers while fishing in Libya’s territorial waters and prevented, by the threat of force, Libyan Coastguard to stop them.
In a video posted by Almarsad online news outlet, two Italian trawlers were seen fishing 20 miles off Libya’s eastern coast on November 16.
A Libyan navy officer said an Italian naval vessel ordered them to keep away from the two trawlers and warned against any attempt to intercept them.
“This country doesn’t want any good for Libya, it prevented us from arresting the Italian trawlers which are stealing Libya’s wealth”, the officer on board the Libyan Coastguard vessel said, calling on Libyan governments to take action against Italy.
The officer indicated that the Italians directed their naval artillery at them in a show of force, but they refused their orders to leave the area.
Later, an Italian military helicopter flew over the area to offer more protection for the two trawlers.
