AFM, Italian coast guard clash over corpse

The Armed Forces and the Italian coast guard are at loggerheads over who should assume responsibility for a decapitated corpse spotted floating in the sea off the island of Lampedusa.

The Sicilian coast guard on Tuesday informed the AFM that a lifeless body, probably an illegal immigrant, was seen drifting in the Sicilian channel.

The bloated body reported by the Tunisian fishing vessel l'Harus il Bahar was apparently in a state of decomposition, according to the newspaper La Sicilia.

The boat owner alerted the Tunisian coast authorities who subsequently informed the coast guard in Rome. After waiting in vain for a few hours, the Tunisian crew attached a buoy to the corpse and continued on their way.

Since the reported find was located some 90 nautical miles off Malta and 60 miles south of Lampedusa, the Rome authorities instructed the AFM to deal with the case, claiming the location was under Maltese jurisdiction.

However, when contacted, AFM spokesman Col. Mario Schembri said the corpse was closer to Lampedusa than Malta.

"We are only responsible for the coordination of the search and rescue area. In this case there was no search - and no rescue," Col. Schembri said.

"Our aim is to save lives at sea and not create a possible risk for our personnel."

There is no international convention which binds the AFM or any other entity to retrieve corpses from the sea, Col. Schembri explained.

Besides, the AFM was not informed of the exact location of the corpse.

La Sicilia reported that Italian MP Donato Mosella has raised the issue with the Italian transport minister, describing the matter as a "disconcerting incident" since nobody seemed to assume responsibility for the recovery of a corpse.

The newspaper reported yesterday that the body probably belonged to one of the thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the Sicily channel yearly.

The Italian and Maltese authorities have in the past clashed over responsibility for corpses in the volatile Sicilian channel.