Argentina moves to have warship released from Ghana port

Argentina has filed a case in a Ghanaian court to secure the release of one of its warships being detained in Accra over a credit dispute, a lawyer familiar with the case told AFP Friday. The frigate Libertad was seized under a court order by creditors suing Buenos Aires over its 2002 bond default, a move Argentina has called a violation of international law. A lawyer for bondholder NML Capital, Ace Ankomah, said a hearing on the matter was scheduled for the commerical court division of the High Court in Accra on Tuesday. "We have been served with an application to set aside the order," he said. Argentina accused NML capital of perpetrating a fraud in Ghanaian courts, while Ankomah noted that the vessel can be released once a payment is made. "If they post bond tomorrow, the ship can leave," he said. Between 2005 and 2010 Argentina refinanced and rescheduled its repayment of 93 percent of the almost $100 billion default it incurred in 2001. Among the unsettled business were bonds held by speculative funds seeking to recoup their money through the courts. Argentina also has more than $6.5 billion in debt with the Paris Club of government creditors. Buenos Aires has said that Ghana's seizure of the Libertad "is against the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity." Port officials in Accra said they were simply acting to comply with ruling from a domestic court.