Italian police seize migrant boat, risking stand-off with deputy PM

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini addresses a major rally of European nationalist and far-right parties ahead of EU parliamentary elections in Milan, Italy May 18, 2019. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors have ordered the seizure of a rescue boat anchored outside the port of Lampedusa in Sicily, triggering a potential tug-of-war with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini who has pledged to stop the migrants from disembarking.

Tax police officers have boarded Sea Watch 3 to seize the vessel, the websites of several Italian dailies reported, adding the move would eventually open the way for the 47 immigrants on board to disembark.