European Union countries have agreed to set up a new EU mission in the Mediterranean to enforce the arms embargo on Libya which is needed for a permanent ceasefire in the war-wracked country, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday.
"Finally we all agree on setting up a mission to stop arms entering Libya," Di Maio said, referring to the much-violated United Nations embargo.
Di Maio's comments to reporters on the sidelines of an EU ministerial summit in Brussels were confirmed by his German and Austrian counterparts.
"We are all working for a lasting ceasefire in Libya, but if arms continue to enter the country from all over the place, a permanent truce is impossible," Di Maio stated.
The 27-member EU has agreed that the mission will include a naval element - a sticking point for some countries - Di Maio said.
"If it creates a 'pull factor', that is to say the ships attract migrants, the mission will be stopped," he added.
The mission will also deploy planes and could extend to the Libyan mainland, Di Maio said.
"Blocking the entry of arms also means enabling Libya's stabilisation, ending the conflict and allowing the country to get back on its feet," he said.
Libya has been in chaos since the Nato-backed 2011 ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi with rival administrations in the east and west of the oil-rich country since 2014 - each backed by a myriad of armed groups.
A shaky truce was agreed last month in the deadly fighting in Tripoli between militias loyal to the UN-backed government and the forces of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive to take the capital last April.
Turkey backs the internationally recognised government in Tripoli, and recently sent thousands of soldiers to Libya, while the UAE and Egypt have supplied arms to Haftar. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries are fighting on Haftar's side in Libya.
