TRIPOLI, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Tuesday met with EU senior officials and urged EU to lift arms embargo on Libya, said the PM's media office.
According to the office, the meeting discussed mutual cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration and training of Libyan border and coast guards.
Serraj urged EU to lift the ban on arming and equipping the Libyan coast guards. He also called on EU to coordinate the work of NGO's ships that rescue migrants off Libyan coast, so as not to conflict with the work of Libyan navy.
Admiral Enrico Credendino, commander of EU's Sophia naval operation, praised Serraj's efforts to achieve stability in Libya and the coordination between Libyan navy and Sofia operation against illegal immigration.
The commander also said that 500 Libya coast guard members will be trained before next summer, stressing that cooperation with Libya is moving "in the right direction."
Bettina Muscheidt, head of EU mission to Libya, also attended the meeting held in the capital Tripoli.
EU has launched the naval operation Sophia in 2015 to monitor Libyan maritime border in order to fight illegal immigration across the Mediterranean, as well as applying the ban of the arms on Libya. The EU has extended the mandate of Sofia until the end of 2018.
According to European reports, Sophia has arrested more than 100 smugglers and handed them over to Italy. The operation has also rescued over 40,000 immigrants off Libyan coast.
