Three men accused of forcing the North Korean-flagged Morning Glory to leave territorial waters with illicit oil were freed, the Libyan attorney general said.
U.S. Navy SEALs, at the request of the Libyan government, intercepted Morning Glory last month after it left Libyan waters with a cargo of oil from rebel-held ports in the east of the country. The vessel was returned to Libyan custody, and Attorney General Abdulqader Radwan said three men who forced it to leave port at gunpoint were released from custody Monday.
Deputy Defense Minister Khalid al-Sharif expressed frustration with the return after Libyan soldiers tried to prevent the vessel from leaving port by force.
Libya has struggled to return to a pre-war oil production level of 1.6 million barrels per day because of internal fighting and export blockades.
The move to free the gunmen was seen as an effort to ease negotiations between Tripoli and Ibrahim Jadhran, leader of the self-styled government of Cyrenaica in eastern Libya.
The U.N. Security Council, in response to the Morning Glory incident, passed a resolution that allows member states to use force to ensure Libya's oil stays in the hands of the central government.
[Libya Herald]
