Italy waits for the GNA’s go-ahead to send military assistance into Libya

Italy will not send troops to Libya unless the recently agreed national unity government asks Rome to intervene, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Monday.

On March 31, the long-anticipated UN-backed Government of National Accord started to perform its duties in Libya after more than four years of civil war. The government is headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.

[st_quote author=””]”We will only intervene if the Sarraj Government appeals to us and to the rest of the international community for support, and [an intervention is possible] with the international community. We are ready for a strong role, but for no adventures,” Renzi told la Repubblica newspaper.[/st_quote]

Commenting on the refugee crisis, which has grown out of the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, Renzi urged the European community to “face” the problem and fundamentally revise its approach by changing the present relations with these war-torn countries.

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a civil war began in the country and long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown.

In December, Libya’s rival governments — the internationally-recognized Council of Deputies based in Tobruk and the Tripoli-based General National Congress — agreed to create a Government of National Accord and end the political impasse.

The internal conflict and instability prompted the advance of a cell of the Daesh militant group in Libya. which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

Italy, active in the international anti-Daesh coalition in Iraq, has not taken part in military operations against Daesh in Syria. As for Libya, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in March that Rome was not preparing any military operations in the country.

[su_note note_color=”#fefccb”]The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Libyan News’s editorial policy.[/su_note]