ROME--Italy intends to deploy several ships in Libyan waters by the end of August to combat human trafficking and stem a huge influx of immigrants, a government source said on Thursday.
A mission plan should be brought to the Cabinet for approval on Friday, and the necessary parliamentary vote to endorse it may be held next week, the source said. "The exact number of ships and sailors is still being worked out," said the source. If parliament approves, the mission might begin by the end of August, he said.
Amid mixed signals from Tripoli over whether Libya would allow the deployment, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni met with military chiefs and ministers on Thursday to discuss "security, immigration and the Libyan situation," according to a statement.
Some 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014, making immigration a potent political issue and putting the country under increasing pressure to manage the new arrivals. Most 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.
Gentiloni told reporters the mission was "a possible turning point". Details of the plan will be presented to parliament on Tuesday, he said.
In a letter sent on Sunday that Gentiloni outlined on Wednesday, Libya's U.N.-backed government in Tripoli invited Italian warships into its territorial waters. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj was in Italy for the announcement of the plan on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Gentiloni said he had spoken to several European "colleagues" who supported the mission. "It pleases me to know there is a lot of support in Europe to this new possibility," he said.
Despite Serraj's visit, Libya’s presidential council in Tripoli on Thursday denied it had given permission for Italian forces to be in Libyan waters and warned sovereignty was a red line. "What was agreed with Italy was the completion of the programme supporting the coast guards to train and prepare them with armed capabilities and equipment for saving lives of migrants, and to confront criminal organizations," it said. "National sovereignty is a red line that cannot be passed."
The council gave no explanation for the conflicting positions. But Libya's U.N.-backed presidential council is split and Serraj has struggled in a country where rival factions have steadily battled for control since Gaddafi's fall.
