JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities said that a Libyan-owned tanker believed to be smuggling oil from Iran to Syria was responsible for spilling tons of crude into the eastern Mediterranean last month, causing one of Israel’s worst environmental disasters. Environmental Protection Ministry officials said the “Emerald” sailed from the Persian Gulf to off the coast of Syria. Ministry officials said it is believed to have dumped its oil in the eastern Mediterranean, around 70 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of Israel on Feb. 1 or 2. The ecological disaster, one of the worst in the country’s history, has caused extensive damage and forced the closure of beaches and a ban on the sale of seafood from the Mediterranean.
