Pope meets with embattled Malta PM despite plea to cancel

Yahoo – AFP, December 7, 2019

Pope Francis and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meet at the Vatican,
despite calls from academics for the pontiff to cancel the event (AFP Photo/Handout)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis held a private audience with outgoing Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, despite a plea to cancel the meeting over a scandal-hit investigation into the murder of a journalist.

The Argentine pontiff met Muscat and his family for an event the Vatican said had been scheduled months ago.

Muscat said Sunday he will step down in January after mass protests over a much-criticised probe into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which has also led to the resignations of his chief of staff and tourism minister.

Twenty-two Maltese academics sent the pope a letter, dated before Muscat's decision to step down, asking Francis to cancel a meeting they slammed as a "propaganda exercise" for the prime minister.

They said it would be "totally unwise, and pastorally undesirable" for the audience at the Vatican to take place, "given the serious and grave nature of the accusations and allegations which are plaguing" the government in Valletta.

Caruana Galizia, a mother of three described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was blown up in a car bomb attack near her home in October 2017.

The reporter had become known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within the country's political and business elite, including among Muscat's inner circle.

Francis joined the cries of outrage across the globe over her slaying, sending a rare formal note of condolences, which are usually reserved for the deaths of prominent world leaders rather than private citizens.

Related Articles:

Malta PM to step down over slain reporter case: party sources

Thousands turn out across Poland to remember slain mayor

Yahoo – AFP, Stanislaw WASZAK, January 14, 2019

There were rallies in a dozen cities across Poland Monday in tribute to the slain
mayor of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz (AFP Photo/Janek SKARZYNSKI)

Gdansk (Poland) (AFP) - Thousands of people joined marches across Poland to pay tribute to the centrist mayor of Gdansk who died Monday, a day after being stabbed in the heart at a charity event.

Pawel Adamowicz died in hospital after a day-long fight by doctors to save him.

"Despite all our efforts, we failed to save him," Doctor Tomasz Stefaniak, director of Gdansk University hospital, told Polish media.

There were marches in a dozen cities around Poland, the PAP news agency reported.

Thousands marched in Gdansk, the Baltic city Adamowicz ran for two decades, many carrying candles or the city's flag.

European Council President Donald Tusk flew in to his hometown to attend the march in memory of his friend and former political ally.

He told the crowd, addressing Adamowicz: "You were always there whenever there was the need to be good and courageous and to take a stand against evil."

Thousands of people gathered in Warsaw under the slogan "Stop the

Hatred" (AFP Photo/Janek SKARZYNSKI)

Thousands more turned out in the capital Warsaw, where that city's mayor Rafal Trzaskowski spoke to the crowd under a banner reading "Stop the hatred!"

Sunday's attack on Adamowicz, known for his liberal views and opposition to Poland's governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, has shocked the nation.

Polish President Andrzej Duda honoured the "great politician" and announced a day of national mourning to coincide with Adamowicz's funeral, the date of which has yet to be decided.

The European Parliament held a minute of silence.

And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker expressed "great sadness" in a message on Twitter, offering "deepest condolences" from the organisation.

"Goodbye Pawel, we'll remember you," Lech Walesa, Poland's legendary anti-communist leader and another native of Gdansk, said on Twitter.

The doctors who battled to save him in surgery said 53-year-old Adamowicz had suffered a serious wound to the heart and cuts to his diaphragm and abdominal organs.

Video footage showed the attacker, who police said was wearing a press badge, bursting on to the stage and launching himself at Adamowicz, as the mayor stood with others waving sparklers towards the end of the fundraiser.

Gdansk residents flooded blood donation centres following news that Pawel 

Adamowicz required supplies of the rare O Rh- blood type (AFP Photo/Krzysztof 

MYSTKOWSKI)

After knifing the mayor several times, the man turned to the crowd with his arms raised triumphantly before being tackled to the ground by security guards and arrested.

'Spiral of violence'

Paramedics resuscitated Adamowicz at the scene before rushing him to the hospital.

Gdansk residents rushed to blood donation centres following news that Adamowicz had received 15 litres (32 pints) of blood and required more of the rare O Rh- type.

"We will miss him a lot," 35-year-old teacher Agnieszka Naruszewicz told AFP, describing the late mayor as "kind, friendly, smiling".

"The spiral of violence has gone too far in Poland," the Gdansk resident added.

"It's shocking that something like this could happen in Gdansk," another city resident, 45-year-old office worker Maciej Szczepanski, told AFP.

Prosecutors have charged the 27-year-old male suspect with murder. They said the man had not confessed and he would undergo a psychological assessment due to "doubts about his sanity". If convicted, he could face a life sentence in prison.

In a video recording of the attack posted on YouTube, the suspect was seen seizing the microphone and claiming he had been wrongly jailed by the previous centrist government of the Civic Platform (PO) party and tortured.

Pawel Adamowiczhas had been mayor of Gdansk for two decades (AFP Photo/

Simon Krawczyk)

"That's why Adamowicz dies," he said.

One witness told broadcaster TVN that the man appeared "happy with what he had done".

Mayor for two decades

Adamowicz had been mayor of Gdansk for two decades. The city of around half a million people was the cradle of Poland's anti-communist Solidarity movement in the 1980s.

The opposition PO, the arch-rival of the governing PiS, backed his re-election in the 2018 municipal polls and he won with 64 percent of the vote.

The attacker had previously been sentenced to more than five years in prison for four armed attacks on banks in Gdansk, justice officials said.

Police were investigating how the attacker had been able to breach security to reach the podium.

"We have to establish how (the suspect's press badge) was obtained, was the accreditation in his name and was he really entitled to be there?" local police spokeswoman Joanna Kowalik-Kosinska told reporters.

This type of attack is rare in Poland. A similar incident occurred in 2010 when an assailant gunned down an aide at a regional PiS office before stabbing another PiS employee, who survived.

Dozens of mafia suspects held in international sting

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, December 5, 2018

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the
raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

The Hague (AFP) - Police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America on Wednesday in a huge international swoop targeting Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan, officials said.

Nearly 90 people including high-ranking members of the powerful organised crime syndicate accused of drug trafficking and money laundering were arrested in coordinated raids in six countries, EU justice agency Eurojust said.

The "unprecedented" crackdown on the group based in Calabria, southern Italy, came just a day after Italian police arrested the new boss of the separate Sicilian mafia.

Hundreds of police took part in Wednesday's operation, seizing four tonnes of cocaine, 120 kilos of ecstasy and two million euros (dollars) in cash across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Suriname.

"Today, we send a clear message to organised crime groups across Europe," Filippo Spiezia, vice president of the EU's judicial agency Eurojust, told reporters in The Hague.

"They are not the only ones able to operate across borders; so are Europe's judiciary and law enforcement communities."

He said the "unprecedented and extraordinary result", the fruit of a two-year operation, targeted "dangerous members of the 'Ndrangheta family deeply involved in drug trafficking and money laundering".

Italian restaurants

The 'Ndrangheta -- which derives its meaning from the Greek word for heroism -- is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed "toe" of Italy's boot.

Before Wednesday's Europe-wide raid, Italian police arrested the new boss 

of the Sicilian Mafia, Settimino Mineo (AFP Photo/Alessandro FUCARINI)

Despite intense police attention and frequent arrests, the organisation has continued to extend its reach.

It has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to control of the cocaine trade and is the sole mafia organisation to operate on all continents, according to anti-mafia prosecutors.

Officials hailed Wednesday's operation -- dubbed "Operation Pollina" -- as a serious blow to the group.

In total 41 people were arrested in Italy, 21 in Germany, 14 in Belgium, five in the Netherlands and two in Luxembourg, with operations still underway, Eurojust said.

Italian police said the sweep targeted the 'Ndrangheta and its "projections across South America".

Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho said the operations would affect the 'Ndrangheta's drug trafficking operations around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

But he warned that it was "just a first step", saying the arrests were "nothing for the 'Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized".

In Germany, Wednesday's operation focused on restaurants, offices and apartments, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria region.

Dutch prosecutors said the investigation began after they noticed money laundering at two Italian restaurants in the southern Netherlands that showed criminal links with Germany and Calabria, home of the 'Ndrangheta.

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the

raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

Using an often family-based network spread out around Europe, drugs would come into the Dutch port of Rotterdam and the Belgian port of Antwerp before being moved around the continent.

Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said they had also probed ice cream parlours, adding that together with restaurants "the suspicion is that the mafia organisation is laundering money through these establishments and they are used as a cover for their criminal organisations".

He also confirmed that there had been raids in Suriname, a small South American country that was once a Dutch colony.

Dutch NOS television said the 'Ndrangheta were mainly active in the Netherlands in drug smuggling through the country's huge flower export market.

'Decisive hit'

The Belgian operations were concentrated on the Limburg area, home to many people of Italian descent who moved there after World War II to work in coal mines, Belgian prosecutors said.

The European police agency Europol said it was a "decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world".

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is Italian, sent "congratulations" to the police forces involved, adding: "Europe fights 'Ndrangheta criminal groups".

On Tuesday, Italian police arrested new Cosa Nostra boss Settimino Mineo and dozens of other suspects in Sicily in a major swoop.

Jeweller Mineo, 80, was detained with at least 45 others just before he was due to be appointed official heir to notorious mafia boss Toto Riina, who died in prison last year.

Dutch prepare to bring in new EU rules on airline passenger information

DutchNews, January 10, 2018

Justice minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus has submitted a draft law to parliament which will require airlines to hand over all their information about passengers to the military police. 

The information will go to a new police unit for analysis with the aim of tracking down terrorists and major criminals, the minister said. The new law stems from the European Passenger Name Record directive, which is now being incorporated into Dutch law. 

Grapperhaus expects the legislation to complete its passage through parliament before the summer. 

Information about passengers – including details about baggage, payments and addresses – will be kept for five years. It can also be shared with other countries, Europol and the regular Dutch police force.

Journalist murder sparks push to heal politically-polarised Malta

Yahoo – AFP, Robin MILLARD, October 22, 2017

Flowers and candles were placed at a shrine outside Valletta's Palace of Justice
(AFP Photo/Matthew Mirabelli)

Valletta (AFP) - Citizens mourning the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia are calling for Malta's deeply-ingrained tribal politics to be put aside so the shaken island nation can begin healing its wounds.

The initial shock at Monday's car bomb assassination is now turning into demands for a united front -- with tens of thousands, party allegiance aside, expected at a national rally on Sunday demanding justice for the journalist.

Caruana Galizia's anti-corruption blog shone a light into the murky corners of Maltese politics, rattling the Labour government -- and, more recently, their sworn enemies in the Nationalist opposition.

On Saturday, the government offered an award of 1 million euros ($1.2 million) for information leading to the arrest of those responsible, saying it was "fully committed to solving the murder" and to "bringing those responsible to justice".

"As we are seeing protests develop, we become aware of what has been fought for in terms of maintaining democracy," said Geraldine Spiteri, one of many paying her respects to Caruana Galizia at a growing tribute of flowers, candles and messages in Malta's capital Valletta.

"People in Malta politicise every issue," the lawyer said, citing the "deep-rooted tribal mentality, which is very worrying".

"But certain things go beyond that. I am encouraging people to attend on Sunday to show the powers that be, on both sides, that people are concerned."

Maltese politics is split between Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's centre-left Labour Party, and the centre-right Nationalists.

Family party loyalty is strong. Come election time, families can expect personal visits to ensure turnout. With votes pretty much secure, partisan point-scoring can take priority over upholding the tiny Mediterranean islands' democratic institutions.

Caruana Galizia's grisly assassination has added further fuel to the politicians' tribalist bickering.

'Crocodile tears'

Carmelo Pace, a retired factory worker, was a self-confessed "avid" reader of Caruana Galizia's blog.

"I don't support the government, I support the opposition, but they are just pointing fingers at each other," the 74-year-old said, adding that politicians lamenting her loss were shedding "crocodile tears".

Caruana Galizia, 53, made searing allegations of financial corruption against Muscat's inner circle, largely based on the Panama Papers leak, forcing him to call a snap election in June -- which he won comfortably.

She had recently turned her spotlight on Adrian Delia, the new leader of the Nationalist Party, which hitherto had sought to capitalise on her allegations.

Kurt Sansone, online editor of the Malta Today newspaper, said that following her murder, the country's long-running political divisions now had to be addressed.

"The polarisation does not help because our institutions need to be beefed up. This is not a situation that started a few years ago," he told AFP.

"The hope is now that the police and the magistrate can get to the bottom of this. The country needs closure in order for us to move forward."

Newspapers in the European Union's smallest state are running a common front page on Sunday, under the slogan "the pen conquers fear".

Hours after they hit the newsstands, the community-organised national demonstration for justice will march through Valletta's historic streets.

Young generation unsure

"People need to go. It's important. If no-one goes, nothing will change," said Marie, 22, a teaching student.

"Something is definitely wrong in Malta. If people our age do nothing, that means the future will be the same. Let's try and think positive."

At the impromptu memorial to Caruana Galizia, sun-seeking cruise ship tourists photograph the flowers.

Older Maltese sit on the shady benches and debate the aftermath, while younger residents do likewise on their smartphones.

An air of fatalism has swept around online forums where young people have been discussing the murder, leaving the next generation unsureabout where Malta goes from here -- a duty, in a country of only 430,000 people, that will inevitably fall into their hands.

"Unfortunately, especially on social media, a lot of people are saying that this is the end of democracy and freedom of speech," said Robert Napier, president of the University of Malta students' council, who has been trying to bolster undergraduates' morale and resolve.

"No matter how far people are willing to go, nothing should silence our students, who are ultimately the leaders of tomorrow."

Shock at murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia now turning to demands for justice https://t.co/M9ptv7YYsY pic.twitter.com/yjW9NDOKlx

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 22, 2017

Related Articles:

Slain Malta journalist's sons dismiss reward, tell PM to quit

Thousands rally in Malta to demand justice for murdered journalist #caruanagalizia pic.twitter.com/2FcoNmnqan

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 23, 2017

Slain Malta journalist's sons dismiss reward, tell PM to quit

Yahoo – AFP, Robin MILLARD, October 19, 2017

Matthew Caruana Galizia (C) and Peter Caruana Galizia (2ndL), son and husband
of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and policemen walk past the wreckage of the car
bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia (AFP Photo/STR)

Valletta (AFP) - The sons of a murdered Maltese journalist on Thursday dismissed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's offer of a reward to help find her killers and called for him to quit.

Muscat has ruled out quitting and has vowed to bring those responsible for killing a reporter he has described as his "greatest adversary" to justice, with the help of FBI investigators.

On Wednesday Muscat told parliament that the government would put up a "substantial and unprecedented reward," for information leading to a conviction over Monday's car bomb killing of anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Her sons revealed that the government was putting up a million euros, but said they would not bow to pressure to endorse the idea.

"We are not interested in a criminal conviction only for the people in government who stood to gain from our mother's murder to turn around and say that justice has been served," they said.

"The Prime Minister asked for our endorsement. This is how he can get it: show political responsibility and resign."

Caruana Galizia had used her widely-read blog to highlight numerous cases of suspected corruption, including several scandals implicating Muscat's inner circle which had left her facing a string of legal suits.

Daphne Caruana Galizia had used her widely read blog to highlight numerous 

cases of suspected corruption (AFP Photo/Matthew Mirabelli)

Her sons, Matthew, Andrew and Paul, said Muscat should resign because he had worked to "cripple our mother financially and dehumanise her so brutally and effectively that she no longer felt safe walking down the street.

"And before resigning he can make his last act in government the replacement of the Police Commissioner and Attorney General with public servants who won’t be afraid to act on evidence against him and those he protects."

Muscat called and won an early election in June after the late journalist said she had evidence that his wife Michelle was the beneficiary of a secret Panama bank account.

Caruana Galizia, 53, alleged the account was used to stash kickbacks from Azerbaijan's ruling family linked to an Azeri bank gaining a licence to operate in Malta.

Muscat asked a magistrate to investigate the claims and has vowed to quit if any link is established between him and hidden offshore accounts.

The investigation, which the opposition has derided as rigged, is ongoing.

The journalist's killing has caused shock around the world and prompted much soul-searching in Malta over whether the country is becoming a cesspit of corruption against the backdrop of an economic boom which some see as having allowed both organised crime and a kickbacks culture to flourish.

Hundreds of children put to work as beggars; four gangs work in NL

DutchNews, June 22, 2016

Police outside the house in
Barcelona. Photo: OM

Dutch police have identified four criminal gangs who are putting Roma children on the streets to beg and steal in the Netherlands, the public prosecution department said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The Dutch probe is part of an international investigation into the exploitation of some 300 children by criminal gangs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Spain, the department said. 

The children, ranging in age from eight to 16 – come from Bosnia, Croatia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia, the NRC reports. According to police spokesman Arthur de Rijk, they have been lured away from poor families and taught to steal in groups. They are expected to ‘earn’ up to €1,000 a day, he told the paper. 

Raids

Some of the children were found in Spain last week and brought back to the Netherlands where they are now in the hands of social services. 

They were found in police raids in Barcelona, where six children, ranging in age from under one to 15, were found living in a filthy home with a 49-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, said to be from eastern Europe. Four of the children were already on a Dutch watch list.

‘They had been put under the supervision of Dutch social services earlier and so we are responsible for them,’ a prosecution department spokeswoman said. Eight other Roma children who are known to the Dutch authorities are still missing. 

Amsterdam 

The children, put to work in groups, were stealing up to €1,000 a day, police said. The money was passed on to criminal families who spent it on fast cars, luxury homes and gambling, according to Dutch media reports. 

The investigation began a year ago after police noticed they had been repeatedly arresting the same children pick-pocketing at Amsterdam’s central station.

‘We started to look into where the children lived,’ Arthur de Rijk said. ‘Their parents never came to pick them up. It was always other family members but they never had ID. Something was not right.’ 

DNA

In one case, dna tests showed the woman who came to fetch two children was not their mother, as she claimed to be. Various children were placed in care but encouraged to run away by their ‘families’. 

The two adults arrested in Barcelona will be extradited to the Netherlands to face charges. Five of the children have been placed in a secure unit to stop them running away. A sixth remains in Spain where she has to serve a youth detention sentence.

Italian football star Vincenzo Iaquinta to be tried for mafia links

An Italian judge has ordered more than 140 people to stand trial over alleged ties to 'Ndrangheta mafia. The officials suspect ex-Juventus striker and national team member Vincenzo Iaquinta of intending to aid the clan.

Deutsche Welle, 22 December 2015

Iaquinta was indicted for illegal possession of firearms, aggravated by intention to help the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta organization, his lawyer Carlo Taormina said on Monday.

The footballer's father, businessman Giuseppe Iaquinta, faces a more serious charge of mafia association, according to Taormina.

The 36-year old Iaquinta played for several Italian clubs, including the famous Juventus, and was part of Italy's national team which won the World Cup in 2006.

Hoy cumple 36 años el futbolista italiano Vincenzo Iaquinta pic.twitter.com/qL2zw37eUN

— Roy N'Coma (@RodrigoCornell) November 22, 2015

The Italian court ordered the Calabrian-born athlete and more than 140 other people to stand trial for their aiding or joining 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful organized crime network.

A number of the suspects allegedly aided 'Ndrangheta to in their bid to infiltrate the country's north, where the influence of the mafia is traditionally weaker.

The trial is set to start in March 2016.

The Calabrian clan is rumored to control most of Europe's cocaine trade. Their name - 'Ndrangheta - comes from the Greek word for courage or loyalty, and prospective members are required to take an elaborate oath in order to join the organization.

Corpses, desperation litter site of Ankara peace rally

Yahoo – AFP, Burak Akinci, October 10, 2015

Dead bodies covered with flags lie on the ground following an explosion at the

 main train station in Turkey's capital Ankara, on October 10, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Adem Altan)

Ankara (AFP) - The square in front of Ankara's central train station was to have been the venue for a peace rally attracting people from different leftist and Kurdish groups.

But at 10:04 am, everything changed, in a moment that will mark Turkey forever.

The area was plunged into scenes of unimaginable horror as two suspected suicide bombers carried out the deadliest attack in the history of modern Turkey.

Dozens of bodies littered the asphalt, with bloodstains extending hundreds of metres. Crying and tears were audible from every direction.

Seconds before the twin explosions, the activists, who included several members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) had been filmed happily joining hands and dancing in celebration.

Then the explosion goes off and the activists either fall to the ground or run for cover.

This video grab taken from footage made avaliable by local source "Dokuz8 Haber"

 shows the moment an explosion ripped through a gathering ahead of a planned 

peace rally in Ankara on October 10, 2015 (AFP Photo)

The dead lay side-by-side as they had fallen before being taken away to the morgue. Many were swathed in the same banners they had taken to the event, including those of the HDP.

"I saw a man with his leg torn off lying on the ground. I also saw a torn-off hand on the asphalt," said Sahin Bulut, 18, member of the Istanbul association of engineers.

The power of the blast blew out windows high up on the Ankara railway station, the main hub of Turkey's growing rail network.

The attacks put a knife through the heart of Ankara, which became capital following the founding of the modern Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Known as a relatively ordered place compared to the chaos that can engulf Istanbul, the city had never known anything like violence on this scale.

"We heard one huge blast and then one smaller explosion and then there was a great movement and panic. Then we saw corpses around the station," said Ahmet Onen, 52.

A man is helped after bombs were set 

off at a peace rally in Ankara on

October 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)

"A demonstration that was to promote peace has turned into a massacre, I don't understand this," he said, sobbing.

'Did you see him?'

Within two hours of the explosions, units of police in bullet proof vests and with automatic weapons in their hand surrounded the scene and cordoned off the area.

Police experts in white special suits combed the area for evidence while bomb disposal experts examined any suspect packages.

The sirens howled as the ambulances took survivors to Ankara hospitals. Urgent appeals for blood were made though social media.

Around the human remains and the corpses numerous ball bearings could be seen, used in bombs to cause the maximum damage and injury.

"There are people who died immediately, others who were very badly wounded. It's a true massacre," said a lawyer who came to supervise the demonstration, who asked not to be named.

Rescuers prepare to load a coffin into 

a van at the site of twin explosions near

 the main train station in Turkey's capital

 Ankara, on October 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Adem Altan)

In scenes of panic and desperation, dozens of people sought to find their loved ones amid the chaos.

Among them is a young man looking agonised who stops everyone who passes by him. "Did you see him? Did you see him? His name is Gokhan, he was with me."

Among the shocked survivors anger grew, accusing the security forces of not properly assuring security at the demonstration.

"None of the demonstrators who came were properly checked by the security forces," said Ahmet Oren.

Such is the anger, that a group of demonstrators targeted a police chief and the security forces fired into the air to disperse the protesters.

"This, I have never witnessed in my life," said one policeman.

Related Articles:

Thousands rally against Erdogan after Ankara attacks
Opinion: Ankara was an attack on democracy in Turkey

UN Security Council approves EU anti-trafficking mission

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution allowing EU naval forces to intercept and seize vessels smuggling refugees on high seas. The migrants should be treated with "humanity and dignity," the document says.

Deutsche Welle, 9 Oct 2015

The resolution, which the council approved on Friday, can be militarily enforced under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.

By approving the British-drafted document, Security Council provided international backing for the EU initiative to stem the flow of refugees from Libya to the European coast.

Earlier this week, EU-members sent several warships to international waters off the coast of Libya with orders to board and search smuggler's boats, arrest human trafficking suspects and transport any migrants to Europe.

The resolution provides UN authorization for one year and asks for the refugees found on the ships to be "treated with humanity and dignity."

Hope for Libya

British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft welcomed Friday's decision, saying that smugglers must not be allowed to "profit from others' despair."

"Action against smugglers on the high sea won't solve this crisis alone," he said. "But it will send a message that people cannot profit from this evil trade with impunity. It will save lives."

The original draft of the resolution would also allow the EU forces to sink smugglers vessels after seizing them. The final document, however, says that action on disposal must be taken "with due consideration of the interests of any third parties who have acted in good faith."

The EU also initially wanted a naval operation in Libyan territorial waters and along its coast, but Libya objected.

The north African country is only beginning to overcome a power struggle between two governments, making political action difficult and leaving a power vacuum used by the smugglers.

Venezuela express doubts

Despite initial doubts from Russia and several African countries on the Security Council, the resolution passed with 14 votes in favor.

Venezuela abstaining from the vote, with its UN ambassador, Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno, stating that the humanitarian crisis should not be solved by military action.

"The resolution that has been adopted authorizing use of force in our opinion is a disproportionate action, which sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of this topic in the future," he said.

While the EU naval mission aims to curbing the influx of migrants coming across Libya, it does not apply to the so-called Balkan route, where refugees sail from Turkey to Greece.

dj/sms (dpa, Reuters, AP, AFP)

Related Article:

Nauru opens gates at refugee detention center