Libya government denies accord for Italy ships to deploy

Libya’s UN-backed unity government chief has denied that an agreement has been struck with Rome to deploy Italian vessels in Libyan waters to combat human trafficking.
Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj “denies having asked Italy to send naval vessels into Libya’s territorial waters or fighter planes into Libyan airspace,” his Government of National Accord (GNA) said in a statement late on Thursday.
“Such allegations are without any foundation,” Al-Sarraj was quoted as saying in the statement. “Libya’s national sovereignty is a red line that nobody must cross.”
Tripoli and Rome had agreed to “complete its (Italy’s) support program for (Libya’s) coastguard through training and armament to allow it to save migrants’ lives and to confront the criminal (trafficking) gangs,” Sarraj said.
The Foreign Ministry, in a statement carried by pro-GNA news agency LANA, said the Italian government had been asked “to provide logistical and technical support to the Libyan coastguard.”
“This measure could require the presence of Italian ships in Tripoli port, only for this purpose and if necessary,” the ministry explained.
The GNA chief, whose administration’s control of the lawless country is limited, said he had also asked Rome “to support border guards” in southern Libya, the main entry point for migrants aiming to reach the shores of Europe, and to supply an electronic surveillance system.
Italy agreed on Friday to give more support to the Libyan coastguard to curb migrant flows, but Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni played down the scope of the mission to allay concerns in Tripoli.
A government source told Reuters on Thursday that Italy intended to dispatch several ships to Libyan waters by the end of August while Corriere della Sera newspaper said planes, helicopters and drones would also be deployed.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Gentiloni said Italy would only act in accordance with the Libyan authorities and gave no details of what his government planned to do.
“This is an important initiative because it can give a significant help toward strengthening Libyan sovereignty. It is certainly not an initiative aimed at hurting Libyan sovereignty,” he told reporters.
“It would certainly not reflect reality to say the government was planning to send an enormous fleet and squadrons of aircraft,” he said.
Some 600,000 migrants, fleeing war and economic hardship at home, have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014, pushing immigration to the top of the political agenda.
Most migrants have embarked from Libya, where people smugglers operate with impunity in the turmoil that has gripped the country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Thousands have drowned after their overloaded and flimsy boats capsize.
Italy has been at the forefront of efforts to make the Libyan coastguard more effective in the fight against people smugglers, training its members and helping the Tripoli government to upgrade its fleet.
Libyan officials say they need far more equipment than the repaired vessels being delivered by Italy, none of which is new.

Source: Arab News