FILE PHOTO: Italian Navy personnel rescue migrants from their overcrowded raft, as lifeguards from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue all 112 on aboard, including two pregnant women and five children, as it drifts out of control in the central Mediterranean Sea, some 36 nautical miles off the Libyan coast January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis/File Photo
ABOARD THE GOLFO AZZURRO/ROME (Reuters) - Aid groups operating rescue ships in the Mediterranean have rejected suspicions raised by an Italian prosecutor that by saving tens of thousands of migrants they are effectively aiding Libya-based people smugglers.
On Tuesday, humanitarian vessels brought in almost 1,200 migrants picked up in previous days to ports in Sicily, while the Golfo Azzurro, an NGO ship, sped towards more boats that had left Libya possibly packed with migrants and refugees.
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