A massive influx of refugees from Libya, where ISIS extremists have
been gaining ground, can be halted or at least reduced by extending
“targeted ant-terrorist strikes” into the coastal area, said the Italian
FM.
“We don’t have months and months [to sort this out]. The double risk of the advance of the Islamic State group in Libya and the waves of migrants means we are in a race against the clock,” Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Corriere della Sera.
Gentiloni said part of the solution could be “targeted anti-terrorist strikes” against the ISIS-controlled strongholds along the Libyan coast. “We need to take care of this emergency not as a single country, but as a union,” he said.
He also called for a tighter collaboration with partners in the regions “so that refugees can be welcomed in neighboring countries.”
The quest to reach the safe waters of Italy via the turbulent waters of the Mediterranean ended up in tragedy earlier this week, when Muslim travelers threw 12 Christians overboard during one of the crossings. The Italian authorities arrested 15 people believed to have been responsible.
Hundreds of Libyans died making the crossing this week alone. Just last Sunday 400 migrants drowned when their vessel capsized off Libya coast.
In the most recent incident, early Friday morning, the Italian Coast Guard saved 70 people off the island of Lampedusa. Traveling a long journey on a rubber dingy, the refugees had to be stretchered off to shore as they suffered severe burns in a gas cylinder explosion..................http://rt.com/news/250793-italy-refugees-libya-airstrikes-isis/
18/4/15
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“We don’t have months and months [to sort this out]. The double risk of the advance of the Islamic State group in Libya and the waves of migrants means we are in a race against the clock,” Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Corriere della Sera.
Gentiloni said part of the solution could be “targeted anti-terrorist strikes” against the ISIS-controlled strongholds along the Libyan coast. “We need to take care of this emergency not as a single country, but as a union,” he said.
He also called for a tighter collaboration with partners in the regions “so that refugees can be welcomed in neighboring countries.”
The quest to reach the safe waters of Italy via the turbulent waters of the Mediterranean ended up in tragedy earlier this week, when Muslim travelers threw 12 Christians overboard during one of the crossings. The Italian authorities arrested 15 people believed to have been responsible.
Hundreds of Libyans died making the crossing this week alone. Just last Sunday 400 migrants drowned when their vessel capsized off Libya coast.
In the most recent incident, early Friday morning, the Italian Coast Guard saved 70 people off the island of Lampedusa. Traveling a long journey on a rubber dingy, the refugees had to be stretchered off to shore as they suffered severe burns in a gas cylinder explosion..................http://rt.com/news/250793-italy-refugees-libya-airstrikes-isis/
18/4/15
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At least 21 killed in clashes near Libya’s Tripoli...
ReplyDeleteAt least 21 people were killed in fighting near Libya’s capital Tripoli Friday, military sources said, as the country’s rival parliaments met in Morocco for U.N.-brokered peace talks aimed at forming a unity government to end the unrest.
Pro-government forces clashed with fighters from the Islamist-backed Fajr Libya militia alliance in Tajoura, 30 kilometers east of Tripoli, as the forces of the internationally recognized government launched an attack against the militia’s camp in a new attempt to regain control of the capital.
“14 soldiers, four fighters from Fajr Libya, and three women were killed today in Tajoura,” a pro-government military source told AFP, adding that the women were killed accidentally in rocket fire.
Another 24 people were wounded, he said, without giving a breakdown.....alarabiya.net
18/4/15
Amid growing Italy's migrant crisis, 20 Libyan burn victims rescued at sea...
ReplyDeleteThe unabated flow of migrants fleeing instability in Libya brought a new horror yesterday (April 17): The discovery of 20 migrants adrift at sea who had suffered grave burn injuries in a cooking gas explosion before departing Libya, and then were forced onto a smuggler’s boat without treatment.
Italian ships have picked up 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy’s shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency.
Yesterday’s rescue comes after the feared drowning of more than 400 migrants in two shipwrecks in the last week, bringing to more than 900 the number of people who have died or gone missing so far this year making the perilous crossing — 10 times higher than over the same period last year..........todayonline.com
18/4/15
Obama urges Gulf nations to help with chaos in Libya...
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama urged Gulf nations to help calm the chaotic political situation in Libya, saying that outside military action would not be enough to help reduce tensions in the war-ravaged North African country.
After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House on Friday , Obama said a political solution was needed in the oil-rich Mediterranean state, where two rival governments are fighting for control.
"We're going to have to encourage some of the countries inside of the Gulf who have, I think, influence over the various factions inside of Libya to be more cooperative themselves," Obama told reporters.
"In some cases, you've seen them fan the flames of military conflict, rather than try to reduce them."
Obama is set to meet with leaders from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Washington on May 13 and 14 to discuss a host of crises in the Middle East.....Reuters....ahram.org.eg
18/4/15