The Italian navy has escorted a ship carrying approximately 1,000 mostly-Kurdish illegal immigrants - including many women and children - to Sicily. 

French naval authorities first spotted the aging and rusty vessel in the eastern Mediterranean Sunday night. Italian authorities intercepted the vessel once it entered Italian waters. 

Authorities in Italy say those on board threatened to throw their children overboard if officials stopped the ship. But later they agreed to an inspection. Naval vessels then escorted the ship to the port of Catania. 

Police report an Italian doctor delivered a baby aboard the vessel and then had the infant and mother flown to a Sicilian hospital. 

News reports from Italy say the boat originated in Lebanon. 

Thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa and Asia arrive in Italy every year in efforts to reach Western Europe. The Italian government returns most of those intercepted to their countries of origin. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP. 

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