Tripoli government seeks EU help in stemming the flow of migrants

The self-declared authority that controls Tripoli and much of Libya's west says it will oppose military intervention to slow the flow of migrants leaving its shores unless the EU agrees to work with it, in what observers say is a bid to use the crisis to gain international legitimacy.

The foreign minister of Libya's Islamist-leaning National Salvation Government, which seized control of the capital last year but which is not internationally recognised, vowed to "confront" any attempt by Europe to bomb sites used by human traffickers unless western powers included it in the operation.

"We have been doing our best to get Europe to co-operate with us to deal with illegal immigration but they keep telling us we're not the internationally recognised government," Mohamed el-Ghiriani told the Times of Malta in an interview published on Thursday. "Now they cannot just decide to take this action. They have to speak to us."

Europe is struggling to deal with a surge in deaths at sea as increasing numbers of African and Arab migrants seek to make the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean in overcrowded, ramshackle vessels.

EU leaders were meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the migration crisis and are expected to agree greater resources for a border patrol mission in the Mediterranean.

Several countries are also pushing for a military response patterned on the one the bloc used to confront pirates off the Somali coast and destroy their boats on land.

In Libya, an 11-month war between the Tripoli-based authority and the internationally recognised government in the eastern city of Tubruq has halted already faltering efforts to curb the flow of would-be migrants.

The territory used by human traffickers to launch boats towards nearby Italy falls under the control of Tripoli's authorities, backed by powerful armed groups from the city of Misurata. They have sought international legitimacy to solidify their armed takeover of the capital last year and appear to see the migration issue as a way to achieve recognition.

Late on Wednesday, the Tripoli government claimed that it was aggressively attempting to rein in illegal migration through a unit of its interior ministry, had turned back boats and was holding 8,000 illegal migrants in shelters.

"The National Salvation Government is very open to co-operating with the EU states and organisations and competent entities to counter illegal migration, and welcomes co-operation with international organisations to stand against this phenomenon," it said.

Mr Ghiriani dangled the prospect of further help to halt the human trafficking trade as long as Europe involves his authority in the operation. "You cannot just decide to hit [a site with air strikes]," he told the Times of Malta.

"Let's say you strike a particular site, how will you know that you did not hit an innocent person, a fisherman?" he said. "Does Europe have pinpoint accuracy? So we are saying, 'Let's do this together'."

Observers say armed groups, probably affiliated with Libya's rival camps, may be facilitating the migrant trafficking trade.

Members of Libya's ethnic Tebu minority, allied with the Tubruq camp, dominate the trafficking of African migrants on to Libyan territory while boat landings lie in territory under the control of Arabs and Berber mostly allied with the Tripoli government.

Libyan strongman Muammer Gaddafi, who was deposed and killed in a 2011 Nato-backed uprising against his rule, was thought to be involved in controlling illegal migration, turning the spigot on and off as a tool to win concessions from Europe.

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