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July 27, 2017 RomeSending Italian naval units to help Libya's coast guard could prove to be a "turning point" in efforts to stop traffickers from sending hundreds of thousands of migrants toward Italy's southern shores, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.

With the foundering of a European Union plan to redistribute thousands of migrants rescued at sea and brought to Italy, Mr. Gentiloni said his center-left government would brief lawmakers next week about Libya's request for Italian navy vessels to patrol its Mediterranean shores.

Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, who leads a United Nations-backed unity government based in Tripoli, met in Rome with the Italian leader on Wednesday and asked for the assistance. Gentiloni said his government was working out the details of a proposed naval mission.

"The request that came to us from the Tripoli government for collaboration and assistance for the Libyan coast guard can be a turning point in handling the situation," Gentiloni said. "The fact that the Libyan authorities ask Italy to collaborate, and not to substitute, [in the role of] fighting traffickers is important."

The premier noted that Italy already has furnished Libya's coast guard with speedboats and training aimed at improving Libya's own patrols. Traffickers, exploiting widespread lawlessness in the violence-wracked, fractured north African nation, have sent hundreds of thousands of migrants in unseaworthy smuggling boats toward Italy over the last few years.

Military ships from European nations, vessels organized by aid organizations and commercial cargo frequently pick up men, women and children making the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing. Lately, most of those rescued at sea have been economic migrants from African nations unlikely to win asylum.

Italy has acknowledged the problem of what might happen to migrants who are prevented from reaching Italy and returned to Libya. Rescued migrants have told Italian authorities and humanitarian organizations about torture, rape, forced labor, beatings and other atrocities they suffered in Libyan camps while awaiting their turn to be smuggled out by sea.

The Italian government's strategy foresees international organizations on the ground helping to guarantee the proper treatment of those forced to return to Libya and their eventual repatriation to their homelands. However, organizations that work with refugees have expressed doubts that Libya's deteriorated security situation would allow them to properly carry out such a humanitarian mission.

Analysts have said that some of the very militias that support Mr. Serraj and help him hold on to power in western Libya also profit from trafficking, complicating chances for the success of anti-trafficking patrols. Meanwhile, long stretches of Libya's coastline are not under the control of Serraj's supporters.

Lawmakers from Italy's far-left parties might balk at approving a naval mission to Libya. But any lack in their support could be compensated by center-right opposition lawmakers who have been demanding more vigorous efforts to stem the flow of migrants to Italy.

"I am certain of the results with the vote of Parliament," Gentiloni said.

Italy's next general election is scheduled to take place in less than a year.

Earlier this week, Serraj and rival Libyan leader Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the Egyptian-backed commander of Libya's self-styled national army, met in France and pledged to back a cease-fire and to work toward national elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron has appeared eager to gain influence in Libya, which is rich in oil and natural gas.

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Libyan request for troops may be 'turning point' in Italian migrant situation - Christian Science Monitor

France will vet asylum-seekers inLibyabefore they embark on the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe, President EmmanuelMacronsaid on Thursday, but his own officials dismissed the plan as impractical.

MrMacronsaid France would open centres inLibyabefore the end of the summer to process asylum applications. "The idea is to create hotspots to avoid people taking crazy risks when theyre not all eligible for asylum. We'll go to them," MrMacronsaid during a visit to a refugee shelter in Orlans, central France.

He said the centres would help to stem the massive influx of migrants into Italy and elsewhere in Europe. However, the presidents own officials immediately cast doubt on whether the plan could be implemented at present, pointing out that security was not yet good enough inLibya.

MrMacrons announcement came two days after he brokered talks in Paris between the leaders ofLibyas two main factions, who agreed to a conditional ceasefire and elections.

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France plans migrant processing centres in Libya - Telegraph.co.uk

It is very relevant news in the fight against human trafficking in Libya, if we respond positively, Mr. Gentiloni said after the meeting. I believe this is necessary.

But the potential hurdles confronting such a strategy are manifold. Not least it requires the approval of parliament, which is scheduled to begin debating the potential deployment next Tuesday.

Once parliament gives consent, which is expected, the defense ministry says that it can quickly begin a mission and expects three to six ships, but also helicopters, fighter jets and drones, to be in action by mid-August.

In the meantime, Italian government officials said they were trying to untangle thorny issues related to the rules of engagement.

Those included what Italian warships would do if they encountered hostile human traffickers in foreign waters; whether they can stop arms and oil smugglers as well as human traffickers; and whether the migrants they might have to rescue should be returned to Libya, where they could face a horrific security situation.

The political impact could also be significant. Domestically, the waves of migrants have become a conservative talking point against the center-left government, which has found itself increasingly on the defensive as elections approach.

The crisis has stoked tensions between Italy and its European Union partners, who have mostly been unwilling to share the burden of migrants flowing into Italy, even as many of the migrants seek destinations farther north among Europes richer countries.

Since 2015, the government in Tripoli has denied the European Unions antismuggling mission, called Sophia, from entering its waters. Italian efforts to train the Libyan Coast Guard have proved mostly ineffective.

Instead, Libya has emerged as a key point of departure for hundreds of thousands of migrants, as human traffickers capitalize on the power vacuum created by the overthrow and killing of Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011.

Aid groups operating ships have rescued a significant percentage of the migrants in grave risk of drowning at sea. Some anti-immigrant parties have accused the aid groups of encouraging, or even colluding with, human traffickers.

That suspicion, and a far-right-wing ideology to protect European countries from Muslim and a nonwhite invasion, prompted a group of far-right activists operating under the name Defend Europe to charter a ship to monitor and disrupt aid group activity to prevent asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

The identitarians, as they call themselves, planned to board the ship this month in Sicily and sail toward Libyan waters. But the ship got stuck for days in Egypt.

On Wednesday, it arrived in Northern Cyprus, where its captain and first mate were reportedly arrested themselves for people-smuggling and forging documents after about 20 South Asians were found on board.

About five of the South Asian crew asked for asylum. A spokesman for Defend Europe blamed the asylum requests on bribes from aid groups.

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Italy Plans Naval Mission Off Libya to Stop Migrant Boats - New York Times

Human Rights Watch

Rights group: Armed groups in western Libya attack activists Miami Herald Human Rights Watch says that activists in western Libya have been physically attacked and threatened by armed groups, some affiliated with U.N.-backed government based in the country's capital, Tripoli. The statement by the New York-based watchdog on ... Libya: Activists Being Silenced | Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch Intimidation by militias creates censorship in western Libya says rights groupLibya Herald all 4 news articles »

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Rights group: Armed groups in western Libya attack activists - Miami Herald

A militia fighting on behalf of Libyas UN-backed government has warned that Isis militants are regrouping in order to launch a new attack on the city of Misrata, the countrys trade capital.

We have spotted movements by Daesh (Isis) in the south of Sirte, where they are trying to regroup and break through our forces' lines in the south, Mohamed Ghasri, spokesperson and senior commander of the al-Bunyan al-Marsous forces,said on Wednesday.

The militia was a key force in helping drive Isis out of the coastal city of Sirte last year after a gruelling six-month-long campaign aided by US air strikes.

British MPs hold Cameron responsible over Libya intervention

Misrata-basedAl-Bunyan al-Marsous now believes an attack on their port city is imminent asMr Ghasri warned that his troops have lacked international support to fend off Isis since driving them from Sirte city in 2015.

Isis leaders in the country are now operating in the southern Sirte countryside. Mr Ghasri did not give details on how many fighters Isis is believed to be readying for a fresh assault on Misrata.

The civil war that has engulfed Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 has allowed warlords and extremists to gain footholds across the country.

A new round of diplomacybetween the internationally recognised government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and rival eastern commander Khalifa Haftar began on Tuesday. A ceasefirehas been implemented - except in the fight against terrorist organisations-and elections are possiblyon the table in talksin Paris by the French government.

Faced with a string of military defeats in its caliphate across Syria and Iraq, observers believe Isis will concentrate on its operations in countries such as Libya, which facepower vacuums, and step up terror attacks on civilians worldwide.

News agencies contributed to this report

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Isis is regrouping for battle after losing Mosul and Raqqa, warn Libyan forces - The Independent