Sri Lankan authorities Monday ordered mercy mission aid ship 'Captain Ali' carrying aid for Tamil displaced civilians to leave the island without unloading its cargo.
The Syrian-registered ship, Captain Ali, was seized last week, and the Sri Lankan defence ministry said the cargo of food and other supplies had been destined for the now defeated Tamil Tiger rebels."The ship had tried to enter Sri Lankan waters without following the proper procedure," an official said, but added that a search of the vessel confirmed it was not carrying any arms or ammunition.
The Sri Lankan navy earlier said it has found only food, medical items and similar goods on board the vessel that was intercepted by the navy days ago.
But a Vanni mission Spokesman Arjunan Ethirveerasingam denied this, and hoped aid would still reach Tamils displaced by the war.
Those on board are a British Tamil citizen, 13 crew members from Syria and Egypt, and an Icelandic man.
The expedition began in two legs from Britain and France in April and May.
Sri Lanka's defence ministry had described the boat as an "LTTE vessel," but the defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in a Sunday newspaper interview, has confirmed that the ship "did not have any dangerous intentions".
Ethirveerasingam, said such a description was divisive and damaging and said that they wanted to continue sending aid to the vast number of Tamils displaced by the war.
He said the ship had nothing whatsoever to do with the Tamil Tigers, although he acknowledged that when it first set out, it was planning to go directly to what was then the safe zone, where many of these displaced people were living.
Let them live.