Food aid ship for Libya turns back due to security: UN

ROME: A ship loaded with 1,000 tons of flour bound for Benghazi in eastern Libya returned to port on Thursday without delivering its cargo because of reports of aerial bombardments in the area, officials said.

"The owners of the ship took the decision. There were concerns about the reports of aerial bombardments," Greg Barrow, a spokesman for the Rome-based World Food Programme, which chartered the ship, told AFP.

The WFP, which has launched an operation costing $39.2 million (28.1 million euros) to provide food aid inside Libya and to the thousands crossing into Tunisia and Egypt, said the ship had returned to Malta.

"We urgently call for safe humanitarian access to Libya. This shows the scale of the challenge we face, especially if there is a need to ramp up food and other assistance in Libya," WFP chief Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

"We are exploring every possible humanitarian corridor to be prepared in case needs escalate," she said, adding that the WFP had already flown high-energy biscuits to the Tunisia border and was sending wheat there.