Brussels, 17/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission said on Friday 17 April that it was trying to settle the difference between Malta and Italy on taking in migrants picked up at sea. The aim is to avoid a “possible crisis” between the two countries, according to a European source. “Negotiations are on-going to try to find a way to resolve this delicate situation,” the source added. A Turkish cargo ship with 154 migrants on board was refused entry to the port of Lampedusa and to Malta, Friday's Times of Malta reported. The migrants, from Tunisia, were picked up 40 nautical miles from Lampedusa, but the ship was refused entry to Italian waters by the Italian authorities who insisted that the migrants be taken to Malta, which is responsible for that search and rescue zone. The two countries have very different ideas on the application of international conventions governing the law of the sea. Malta believes that migrants should be taken ashore in the port closest to where they were picked up. This difference in interpretation has forced Frontex to postpone the launch of its operations in the Central Mediterranean (see EUROPE 9879). In this sensitive situation, the Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni and his Maltese counterpart Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici accuse one another of not assuming their responsibilities towards migrants picked up at sea. (B.C./transl.rt)