Libya won't take rescued Africans, says Spain

MADRID, June 15 (Reuters) Libya has turned away a Spanish fishing boat packed with rescued African migrants and the body of one who died, Spain said today, calling the action a violation of a humanitarian principle.

The vessel, 'Our Mother of Loreto', picked up the 26 migrants, including the body, on Wednesday but had to turn around as it approached Tripoli yesterday night after the captain was told he did not have permission to land.

Spain said the immigrants were picked up within Libya's rescue zone, meaning they were obliged to take them in.

The incident is the latest standoff between African and European countries over who should take in stranded migrants seeking jobs in Europe.

''Libyan authorities refuse to allow disembarking. From the Spanish Government's point of view, this is serious. There is a body on board. It is a humanitarian principle,'' Bernardino Leon, Spain's secretary of state for foreign affairs, told state radio.

The boat's owner Jose Dura, said the vessel would wait nearby to see if the situation was resolved on Friday.

The Spanish foreign ministry said it was continuing to negotiate with Libya over the migrants' fate.

Dura owns another boat which rescued 51 immigrants last year, but was stranded off the coast of Malta after authorities there refused to let it dock.

Around 370 Asian and African migrants were left on a boat off Mauritania for over a week in February as Madrid haggled with West African governments over who should take them in.

Spain receives more African migrants than any other European country. Most of them land in the Canary Islands after sailing hundreds of kilometres on simple wooden boats from West Africa.

REUTERS SLD ND1744