Arms-carrying ship crew in court on Monday

The seven crew members of the Haddad 1 cargo ship found off the coast of Crete with a large shipment of illegal arms and ammunition bound for Libya, was on Friday given until Monday to prepare their defense to a prosecutor in Iraklio.

The crewmen, from Syria, Egypt and India, said they had been promised a fee ranging from 400 to 2,500 euros to take the ship from Iskenderun to the Libyan port of Misrata.

Unconfirmed documents on the ship suggested it belongs to a Syria-based company managed from Egypt.

Kathimerini, however, recently uncovered evidence showing that it may be backed by a Greek company.