450 migrants stranded at sea as Italy, Malta dig heels in

ROME: Another 450 migrants on board two military vessels were stranded at sea on Saturday as Italy and Malta locked horns over whose responsibility it was to offer them safe harbour.

The boats, which are currently in Italian waters, had initially set sail from Libya in a single wooden vessel which was identified early Friday while passing through waters under Malta´s jurisdiction. But Italy´s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has authority over the country´s ports, on Friday refused to let them dock in his latest show of intransigence over migrants stranded at sea.

And on Saturday, as those on board were transferred to two other vessels, he insisted the boats be instructed to "head south, to Libya or Malta". "We need an act of justice, of respect and of courage to fight against these human traffickers and generate a European intervention," he said in talks with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, his remarks carried by Italian news agencies.

In an exchange of messages, emails and phone calls on Friday, Rome had tried to push Valetta to take responsibility for those on board the wooden boat.