Tripoli – Libyan coastguards intercepted about 850 migrants on Sunday off the coast near the western city of Sabratha, a spokesman said.
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The chaos in the North African country since Moamer Kadhafi’s fall in 2011 has been exploited by people traffickers, with thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya just 300 kilometres (180 miles) from Italy.
Another 636 migrants were rescued from two boats in Maltese waters, in operations involving Maltese and Italian vessels, it said.
“We agreed to add two further tasks of the operation, namely capacity building and training of the Libyan coast guard”, Mogherini said. The refugees, mainly from African countries were found in seven inflatable boats near Sabrathra, west of the capital Tripoli.
The West is hoping that Libya’s fledgling government will unify Libyans and help combat the Islamic State affiliate there.
Following up on our useful talks last Monday in Vienna to discuss an array of issues relating to Libya, the Libyan Prime Minister Serraj has written to request rapid European Union support contributing to the training of the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard, as well as the security service.
“We agreed today to extend the mandate of the operation by one year”, European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini told a press conference after the meeting.
The coastguard training could take place on the high seas, she said.
Last week during worldwide talks in Vienna, Mr. Serraj said Libya only wants foreign assistance in training and equipping its new security forces to fight Islamic State, not a foreign military intervention. While a recent meeting of foreign ministers and the USA government are in favor of allowing exceptions to the United Nations arms embargo to allow arms and ammunition to be sent to GNA-approved forces to fight IS, it may take time for supplies to actually start flowing.
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A functioning government in Libya is seen as key to fighting the Islamic State movement, which has used the political vacuum to gain a foothold in the country. This will first require a new resolution from the UN Security Council.
