Turkey stops EU search for arms on Libya-bound ship
Germany has accused Turkey of preventing its forces which belong to an EU mission from fully searching a Turkish cargo ship suspected of taking weapons to Libya.
The Turkish government released footage of what they claim is a German soldier restraining a Turkish ship worker during the attempted search.
But the German defense ministry said it had to abandon checks and withdraw, after Turkey protested to the EU mission.
Soldiers from the frigate Hamburg boarded the Turkish freighter - the Rosaline A - on Sunday (November 22) night in the Mediterranean.
A spokesman from the German defense ministry said the soldiers did not find anything suspicious during their partial search of the vessel.
Turkish security sources said the Rosaline-A was carrying various materials such as food and paint.
And they claim the search team violated international law by not waiting for permission from Turkey.
It said the soldiers found nothing, despite spending the entire night opening containers on the ship.
The ship was intercepted about 125 miles north of the Libyan city of Benghazi.
The German spokesman said the Hamburg followed standard procedure, waiting four hours for approval from the flag country before boarding.
