UN says to reveal details of Libyan ship seized in Greece

TRIPOLI -- Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UN Support Mission in Libya, Ghassan Salame, on Sunday pledged to reveal details of a Libyan ship carrying explosives seized by the Greek Coast Guards a few days ago.

"The international decision to ban the export of arms is clear and explicit. The experts team will do its work professionally and impartially to clarify the truth of Andromeda (the name of the ship) and others," Salame tweeted on Sunday.

"Libya needs security and peace, not detonators or explosives," Salame said.

The UN Security Council banned the sale or supply of arms to Libya since 2011. Libya's divided eastern and western authorities have been demanding the lifting of the arms sanctions.

Greek Coast Guards announced on Wednesday that they had seized a ship with the flag of Tanzania carrying materials used to make explosives while sailing to Libya.

The ship's cargo record indicated that the cargo was loaded at the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun before heading to Djibouti and Oman.

However, Greek Coast Guards said preliminary investigation showed that the ship's captain had received orders from the ship's owner to sail to the Libyan city of Misurata, some 250 km east the capital Tripoli, to unload the entire cargo.

Libyan Foreign Ministry on Friday demanded Greece to provide the latest investigation information about the seized ship.