Germany, Italy Ready to Help with Sea Enforcement of Libya Arms Ban

Germany and Italy stand ready to help with new efforts to cut the illicit flow of weapons into Libya, their respective defence ministers said Wednesday, a day after the UN Security Council gave its blessing to the move.

    The UN authorization will allow the European Union to proceed with plans to have its naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea, code-named Operation Sophia, help enforce an arms embargo on Libya.

    There are concerns that ISIS militants in the country are being supplied via the Mediterranean. The EU had set up Operation Sophia last year to patrol international waters off the Libyan coast and arrest suspected migrant smugglers. 

    In addition to enforcing the arms embargo, the EU would also like to see the naval mission start training Libya's coastguard. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is now expected to work out the final details.  "We will await this planning, but will then quickly examine how Germany can contribute," Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels on the margins of a NATO meeting. 

"There is an excellent predisposition on the part of all the European countries to answer positively," Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti added. "We obviously are available". 
According to the United Nations, there are 20 million pieces of weaponry in Libya, which has a population of 6 million people. 

Source ; QNA