Italy shuts ports to migrant rescue ship

Rome: Italy's new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has refused permission for a rescue vessel to drop off 629 migrants picked up off the Libya's coast saying ports were closed to migrants from that country, the Guardian reported.

Salvini, leader of the far-right League, said Malta should let the Aquarius dock but he was rejected.

However, the ship has been allowed to dock in the Sicilian capital, after Leoluca Orlando, the mayor of Palermo, defied the new Italian populist government's orders.

The decision was backed by other mayors in Italy's south, including those in Naples, Messina and Reggio Calabria, who all said they were ready to disobey Salvini's order and allow Aquarius to dock and disembark in their seaports, the Guardian reported.

SOS Mediterranee, which runs the Aquarius, said the ship was instructed by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre on Sunday to stand by at 35 nautical miles from Italy and 27 nautical miles from Malta.

One Aquarius crew member, Alessandro Porro, told Italian news channel Sky TG24 that they desperately needed to know which port to go to. "The people we saved were in a difficult condition, at least 50 were at risk of drowning," he added.

Malta said the German charity SOS Mediterranee had picked up the migrants in Libyan waters, which meant they fell under Italy's jurisdiction. Italy is the main entry for migrants crossing from North Africa to Europe.