MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Australia buys back stranded sheep in vessel.

The Australian government has agreed to buy back 50,000 sheep stranded aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf. The sheep were originally destined for Saudi Arabia but authorities refused to allow the ship to dock more than a month ago alleging an outbreak of disease among some of the animals on board.

Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said that Australia had agreed to compensate the Saudi owner 3.1 million US dollars for the sheep.

"The ship is taking on new supplies of food and water in the next day or two and, once that process is complete, if we haven't got a satisfactory outcome to the commercial negotiations, we will look very seriously at bringing the ship home," said Mr. Truss.

Australian officials had been negotiating with the British Army in Iraq to assist with unloading the sheep and distributing them there. Mr. Truss revealed that offers had been received from buyers in Africa, the Gulf, Europe and South America.

Humane killing Australian animal welfare groups have demanded the animals be humanely killed before they succumb to infection and heat exhaustion aboard the Dutch-owned MV Cormo Express. The situation on the vessel has been described as "really desperate."

But Truss said killing the animals was not an option. The case has attracted widespread media attention in Australia with newspapers dubbing the vessel "the ship of death", and overseas with French actress Brigitte Bardot sending a letter to Australian authorities pleading for the stranded sheep.

Saudi authorities refused to accept the sheep, saying six percent of the animals were suffering from a low-grade infection known as scabby mouth disease. The percent of the shipment infected is disputed by Australia, saying only 0.35 percent had the low-grade disease.

In the meantime Australia has suspended shipments of livestock to the Middle East pending efforts to negotiate a deal with the Saudis guaranteeing that all future exports will be unloaded. Australia is the world's largest exporter of live animals, with Saudi Arabia being its principal market.