Jun 5, 2009, 10:10 GMT
Colombo - The Sri Lankan navy Friday began a detailed search of a vessel carrying relief aid from Britain for Tamil refugees, which it intercepted the previous day, a navy spokesman said.
Sri Lankan authorities accused the ship, the Captain Ali, which is sailing under a Syrian flag, of having forced its way into Sri Lankan territorial waters. In a statement released on a government website, the Defence Ministry said the ship was 'carrying supplies' for the now defeated Tamil rebels.
The vessel was seized by the navy some 150 kilometres west of Colombo.
'We have found medicines and medical equipment and so far we have not found any harmful items on the ship,' navy spokesman Commander DKP Dassanayaka said.
The ship is reported to have embarked from Britain, carrying aid for the members of the Tamil minority who were displaced by the fighting between the army and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and are now held in government-controlled camps.
Relief aid cannot be distributed without the involvement of the state authorities.
Dassanayaka said that the ship had 15 people on board, including a member of the former Norwegian-backed ceasefire monitors identified as Kristjan Guomundsson. He is reported to be the captain of the ship.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed no prior approval had been given for the ship to enter Sri Lankan waters, but also said no instructions had been issued on what action would be taken.
The government declared victory over the LTTE on May 18, after most of the group's leadership was reported killed. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed in the last days of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war.
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