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WORLD NEWS Saturday 15 February 2020
E.U. officials push for bloc to enforce Libya arms embargo

By FRANK JORDANS supported by an array of
Associated Press militias, and an administra-
BERLIN (AP) — European tion based in the country's
Union officials are seek- east, supported by Gen.
ing support from member Khalifa Hifter.
states to have naval ships Hifter and his self- styled
enforce the U.N. arms em- Libyan Arab Armed Forces
bargo against Libya, ac- have been waging an of-
cording to a confidential fensive to capture Tripoli
memo obtained Friday by since last April. On Thurs-
The Associated Press. day, Hifter's forces indis-
The proposal from the EU's criminately shelled residen-
diplomatic service, dated tial neighborhoods around
Feb. 12, suggests the bloc's Tripoli, killing one woman
largely dormant anti-mi- and wounding at least four
grant smuggling mission civilians.
Operation Sophia should Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Mah-
be renamed "Operation EU joub, head of mobilization
Active Surveillance." for Hifter's forces, hailed the
The memo, circulated proposal as "an important
ahead of a meeting Mon- step that would stop the
day of EU foreign ministers influx of mercenaries and
on Libya, urges member This June 24, 2018 file photo, released by the Libyan Coast Guard, shows migrants on a ship arms from Turkey to the
states to agree on whether intercepted offshore near the town of Gohneima, east of the capital, Tripoli, Libya. criminal gangs of Tripoli."
gathering information on, Associated Press He renewed calls for the
and upholding, the U.N. The EU naval mission Oper- This would be "in the east- Since the 2011 ouster and arms embargo to be lifted
embargo should become ation Sophia was launched ern part of the area of op- subsequent death of dic- on Hifter's troops so they
the naval mission's "core in 2015 amid a wave of ir- eration or at least 100km tator Moammar Gadhafi, can carry on their offensive
task." Monitoring people regular migration from off the Libyan coast, where Libya has sunk further into against "terrorist groups" al-
smuggling would be rel- North Africa to Europe. It chances to conduct res- chaos and turmoil. It is cur- lied with the Tripoli govern-
egated to a "supporting was named after a baby cue operations are lower. rently divided between a ment.
task" carried out from the girl born to a rescued So- Rules of engagement will U.N.-supported govern- The Tripoli-based govern-
air. mali woman aboard a have to be designed in a ment, based in the capital, ment did not immediately
World powers agreed at German frigate. conflict sensitive manner," Tripoli, headed by Prime respond to requests for
a conference in Berlin last But tension over how to it suggested. Minister Fayez Sarraj and comment. q
month to respect the arms distribute migrants picked
embargo against Libya, up in the Mediterranean
but in practice weapons among EU member states,
have continued to flow to and claims that the naval
the two warring factions. presence might encour-
The European External Ac- age smugglers, led Italy to
tion Service, the bloc's dip- block the deployment of
lomatic arm, warned in the further ships last year. It cur-
memo that "we run the risk rently functions almost ex-
that, short of concrete ac- clusively using aircraft and
tion, the EU will become pilotless drones.
irrelevant and others will One European diplomat
continue to determine the said there was agreement
development of events in among the bloc's 27 mem-
Libya in ways that will not bers to strengthen U.N.
respond to our interests." monitoring of the embar-
"In fact, blatant violations go, but not on the issue of
of the arms embargo con- dispatching naval assets.
tinue and have even in- The diplomat, who was not
creased in the last weeks," authorized to speak public-
it added. ly, said Austria has object-
"In order to protect its in- ed to putting naval ships
terests, the EU has to act back into the Mediterra-
in a credible manner that nean, an issue that would
produces changes on the likely come up at the an-
ground and conveys a nual Munich Security Con-
clear message of determi- ference over the weekend.
nation," EU diplomats sug- In an apparent conces-
gested. sion to governments con-
The proposal goes be- cerned about the naval
yond the agreement by ships picking up migrants,
EU countries last month to the EU memo proposes
refocus the mission on the that "naval assets can be
arms embargo by stressing deployed in the areas most
the need to "deploy naval relevant to the implemen-
assets in the relevant zone tation of the arms embar-
of its Area of Operations." go."