Christmas baby born at sea named Testimony Salvatore in honour of medics who delivered him
Nigerian mother saved by Italian navy as a trafficking 'superboss' has been identified
A baby born at sea on Christmas Day after his Nigerian mother was plucked from a floundering migrant boat by the Italian navy has been baptised Testimony Salvatore in honour of the medics who delivered him.
The two-day old infant, who weighed in at 2.7kg, and his 28-year-old mother were both recovering in hospital this weekend after what was a smooth delivery in testing circumstances, according to the gynaecologist who oversaw it.
The cheering Christmas tale came as it was confirmed that Italian authorities have identified a 32-year-old Egyptian man as a lynchpin in the large-scale people smuggling that has been instrumental in sending asylum seekers and economic migrants across the Mediterranean in unprecedented numbers this year.
Described as a trafficking "superboss" and named as Ahmed Mohamed Farrag Hanafi, the alleged trafficking overlord is now being pursued by the Egyptian authorities at Italy's request, prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania confirmed.
The suspect is thought to be based in the Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate in northern Egypt and had been identified as a result of intercepted mobile phone calls to traffickers working for him on boats leaving Libya.