LTTE denies military's allegation of ship seizure

Colombo, Dec 23: The Tamil Tiger rebels toady denied the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry's allegation that they have seized a drifting Jordanian merchant vessel and claimed that they have instead rescued the crew of the disabled ship.

A Jordanian merchant vessel sailing from Kakinada, India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, to Durban in South Africa with 23 crew and 14,000 tons of rice lost its way near the Indo-Lanka maritime waters due to technical failure off the LTTE-controlled Mullaitivu areas early this morning.

Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry in a statement promptly accused the Sea Tigers of forcibly boarding the 150-meter long Jordanian vessel, 'FARHA III'.

''A maritime distress message which was released by the vessel indicating that the ship is under armed pirate attack was received by the Maritime Rescuing Coordinating Centre, Falmouth in UK and this has been conveyed to the Sri Lankan naval authorities,'' the Defence Ministry statement said, adding that the crew comprising Jordanian and Egyptian nationals were onboard at the time of the incident.

However, the LTTE peace secretariat in a statement said that the Sea Tigers observed an unrecognized ship off the Mullaitivu coast and approached the scene to confirm the circumstances.

''The ship turned out to be foreign merchant vessel drifting towards Mullaitivu coast due mechanical failure and the rough seas.

Tiger rebels immediately took the necessary steps to rescue the crew of the foreign merchant ship and transport them to safety,'' the LTTE statement said.

The LTTE said that the ship continued to drift towards the shore and ''is in danger of hitting the sea bed''.

The Defence Ministry said that attempts by the Sri Lankan Navy to establish communication with the ship have failed as it was believed that the Sea Tiger rebels had disconnected the communication.

The local agent of the vessel has directed a tug to avoid further drifting of the ship, which was presently drifting about three nautical miles off the Mullaitivu coast where the LTTE Sea Tiger bases are located.

''Government officials are in the process of making all possible attempts to rescue the crew and the ship from the LTTE,'' the Defence Ministry said.

UNI

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