Reply #72: EXCLUSIVE-Libya imports gasoline from Italy's Saras -sources

[tabatha]

Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:27am GMT
By Jessica Donati and Emma Farge

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Libya imported gasoline from Italian refiner Saras in early April, taking advantage of a loophole in United Nations sanctions that permits purchases by companies not on a U.N. list of banned entities.

Three shipping sources with direct knowledge of the transaction said the cargo was delivered via ship-to-ship transfer in Tunisia before sailing to Libya.

Italian-flagged tanker Valle di Navarra arrived at the Tunisian port of La Skhira on April 3 and then transferred its cargo onto the Libyan vessel Anwaar Libya for shipment to Gaddafi-controlled western Libya, the shipping sources said.

Saras declined to comment.

The shipment is legal under U.N. sanctions against Gaddafi's government because the buyer, Libya's General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) which owns the Anwaar Libya, is not on a U.N. blacklist.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE73I0PK20110426?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true