Keep out, Libyan general warns Italian navy

Renegade army leader threatens to use forces to repel boats trying to curb people-trafficking in Med

THE military strongman in charge of eastern Libya has threatened to confront Italian naval ships that are heading to the north African coast to help stop the flow of migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean. The Italian parliament authorised the naval mission in the face of political pressure to cut the number of people arriving in Italy. But General Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of eastern Libya, threatened to use his own forces to repel the Italians from Libyan waters.

“Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar issues orders to the Libyan naval bases in Tobruk, Benghazi, Ras Lanuf and Tripoli to confront any marine unit that enters the Libyan waters without the permission of the army,” the Libyan National Army said in a statement.

Gen Haftar’s forces are unlikely to open fire on the Italians and risk an armed engagement with a major European country. But the threat may complicate the already delicate Italian mission in Libya and strain relations between Gen Haftar and Libya’s Unbacked government in Tripoli.

The warning also reflects broader anger in Libya over the intervention of Italy, a former colonial power that ruled Libya for the first half of the 20th century. Italy’s government said it was sending the two ships to try to curb the flow of migrants and refugees, which has seen 600,000 people arrive in Italy in the past four years. Migration has become a major political issue in Italy and the government is under pressure to cut the number of people arriving. Italy said it was deploying the warships at the request of the Un-backed government in Tripoli.

But Roberta Pinotti, the Italian defence minister, told parliament: “There will be no harm done or slight given to Libyan sovereignty, because, if anything, our aim is to strengthen Libyan sovereignty.” One Italian patrol boat has already reached Libyan waters and a second is due to arrive soon.

Human rights group have criticised the Italian naval mission, saying it would leave people languishing in detention centres in Libya where they face potential torture or even death.

“Italy, along with other EU member states, should be focusing on increasing its search and rescue operations. Instead it has chosen to shirk its responsibilities and endanger the very people it says it is trying to help,” said Amnesty International.

Meanwhile, Italy warned NGO groups carrying out rescue missions in the Mediterranean that it would have to halt their operations if they did not agree to a new set of rules governing their behaviour. The government warning came after a German NGO was accused of aiding illegal immigration by meeting with people-traffickers off the Libyan coast and taking migrants directly from them on to their boat.

Italian prosecutors said that the NGO, Jugend Rettet, collaborated with the smugglers out of a zeal for humanitarian work but that it may have broken immigration law in the process. The NGO met the smugglers three times between October 2016 and June 2017 but no money was exchanged, prosecutors said.

The group’s 100ft boat, Iuventa, was impounded and the NGO said it was assessing the accusations.