Italian government accused ship operated by German NGO of acting 'outside internal law'.
The planned seizure of the Lifeline and Seefuchs comes amid a deepening row over migrant rescues after Italy's new populist government refused earlier this month to take in a stranded rescue ship carrying 630 migrants.
Hungary meanwhile passed a law today criminalising aid groups that help migrants. Arrivals are down some 80 per cent this year to around 14,500, as migrants have turned to other routes.
"So instead of taking, we are willing to give", said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the League leader.
Mission Lifeline said Friday that it still has not been assigned a port, despite its requests.
The latest Italian message represents a change in policy from the coastguard which has often played an important role coordinating migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean outside of its search and rescue area.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Thursday that 220 people had drowned off the coast of Libya in recent days while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. "The rescue of human lives must be prioritized before border control".
A Bavarian ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel is criticizing the German leader's agreement in principle to a eurozone budget, adding to a conflict over migration.
During her visit to Beirut, Mrs Merkel will hold several meetings with prime minister-designate Saad Hariri who has been corralling much of the worldwide support for Lebanon.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly cabinet meeting of the German government at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, June 20, 2018.
Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) on Monday gave Merkel two weeks to get a deal with European allies after Germany's coalition government nearly cracked apart as Merkel's Christian Democrats and their sister party rowed over immigration. "It's a strong message of support economically for Lebanon after the CEDRE conference but also support for refugees and Lebanese hosting communities", said Malte Gaier, the Beirut director of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a think tank affiliated with Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
"It is an initial exchange with interested member states".
After allowing in more than one million asylum seekers into Germany since 2015, sparking a strong xenophobic backlash, Merkel is now fighting for her political future.
As the two neighbours squabbled, a Danish cargo ship carrying 113 migrants was stationed near the Sicilian port of Pozzallo waiting for instructions from Italy.
With chances for an European Union deal on sharing out those who make it to Europe close to zero, sources said Germany would want the Sunday meeting to produce a commitment from states like Greece and Italy to take back asylum-seekers who make it to Germany.
"We know climate change isn't a matter of faith", she told an global climate meeting in Berlin.
"The SPD is prepared for all scenarios", SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil said.
He made the comments after his first meeting with the new Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, at the Elysee palace.
