Libya’s U.N.-backed government has not accepted proposals by Rome aimed at cutting migrant flows to Italy and the two sides are “far apart” on the issue, Malta’s foreign minister said on Friday to reuters.com.

George Vella, whose government holds the rotating chair of European Union ministerial councils, said he would brief his EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday on a long conversation he held on Thursday on behalf of the Union with the foreign minister of Libya’s embattled, U.N.-backed premier, Fayez Seraj.

Asked by reporters about unpublished proposals which Rome has put to Seraj in an effort to curb an expected surge in people taking to boats in Libya in the hope of being rescued and taken to Italy, Vella said the Libyans were considering the ideas. He declined to detail the Italian proposals beyond saying that their aim was to reduce the flow of migrants.

“They are far, far apart,” Vella said. “Their positions are totally different … It’s not a question of money … It’s a wide-ranging discussion … It’s a question of what the Libyan government thinks would be acceptable to Libyans.”

EU officials say the Union aims to agree a common position on Libya soon to back up Italy’s initiatives. Rome has said these include helping secure Libya’s southern desert frontier against people-smuggling and other trafficking.

Last week, after Italy’s interior minister visited Tripoli, his ministry said he had agreed with Seraj that the two countries would cooperate against people-smugglers and that Rome would promote investment in the oil-rich country.

Italy is reopening an embassy in its former colony and is keen to avert a new surge in migrant arrivals after taking in a record 180,000 people last year, mostly from Libya.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took funding from Rome in return for holding back African migrants heading north. Since he was overthrown in 2011, numbers have soared and anarchy in Libya has left Europeans struggling for ways to reduce the flow.

Vella noted that the EU is aiming to increase funding to and cooperation with African and Middle Eastern governments to stem migration pressure. He said he saw cooperation with Egypt, also on the transit routes, as an important element in the strategy.

He said he would consider the idea of EU-backed centers to process asylum claims in Egypt or other countries to help reduce numbers making journeys on which thousands died last year alone. “I would be willing to discuss practically anything,” he said.

Libya’s defense, justice and economy ministries were captured by several militant groups in Tripoli, according to local media reports

Several militant groups took control of Libya’s defense, justice and economy ministries in the country’s capital city of Tripoli on Thursday, local media reported.

The Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, has reportedly arrived in Tobruk in a bid to meet the leader of the Operation Dignity forces in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, like reported by libyanexpress.com .

No more details were reported, but according to local Libyan news operators, the meeting is part of discussions between the two parties for the possibility of Russian assistance to Haftar’s forces in their alleged war on terrorism.

A Palestinian Authority source has revealed that local security forces have arrested 22 Palestinians alleged to be linked to Daesh in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Radio Reshet Bet has claimed according to middleeastmonitor.com .

According to the report, the PA arrested known members of the Salafist Jihadist group, fearing that they would carry out “hostile” activities against Israeli or PA targets. The arrests followed the truck ramming attack in Jerusalem, in which driver Fadi Qunbar, 28, killed a number of Israeli soldiers before being shot dead. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, suspect him of being linked to Daesh.

The radio reporter claimed that the PA was already holding 10 Palestinian supporters of Daesh before the latest arrests brought the total number in detention to 32. However, a spokesman for the PA security services, Adnan Al-Dameeri, denied the presence of Daesh or its supporters among the Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank. He explained that those who were arrested on Monday were wanted for the PA over security offences totally unrelated to Daesh.

The procession left Benghazi, on Thursday, was a military parade affiliated with Daesh, according to libyaprospect.com.

The convoy reached beyond the Al-Baydan area, on the outskirts of Ajdabiya, the same way Daesh left Al-Fatayeh area after its defeat in Derna until it arrived at Sirte.

Despite distance the from Derna to Sirte, there was no response from the army affiliated with the House of Representatives (HoR) and General Khalifa Haftar, but then the Petroleum Facilities Guards clashed with the convoy around 54 km south of Brega. Haftar fighter jets overlooked Daesh movements, and the public also disregarded the incident under false pretences at the time.

That withdrawal is surprising; no one can ever believe the circulated narration describing that play. According to observers, the same situation repeated in Benghazi, on Thursday morning, which resembles Daesh withdrawal from Derna. The same happened before. The same events occurred. While axes are positioned along the way, with other security and military cordons, according to statements by the spokesperson of Haftar forces.

Despite a bunch of regional jets positioned in Benena airbase and foreign jets in Al-Kharoba base, terrorist elements infiltrated through the area. Some fabricated pictures posted via social websites supporting Haftar for Al-Kufra events against the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement, the photos falsely showed Daesh fighters bodies in the outskirts of Benghazi, however, those same pictures were depictions of events in Iraq, mainly due to the surrounding environment was no that of Benghazi.

Daesh’s retreat from Benghazi raised concerns for neighbouring countries, especially Chad that closed its borders with Libya and aims deploy military troops preparing for any terrorist groups who may want to cross the border. Also, the regional and international fears of new civil war in southern Libya that will further complicate the crisis. The oil ports are threatened with a new war, as well as southern water resources. Furthermore, Haftar’s jets shelling on a civilian plane from Misrata complicated the situation; it might pave the way for a new war that allows Daesh remnants to regroup.

Southern notables and elders fear of new confrontations; they expect the same situation that happened in Barqa about three years ago but with more deaths, destruction, social fabric disintegration, increased vengeance culture and what accompanied of other negative phenomena like abductions and secret prisons.

Fezzan elders reached a deal to hand over Guwaira gate to the police from Bawanees in the southern Libya, given the nature and orientations of both vying parties either Haftar army or the opposing Third Force.

It is worth mentioning that there is a brigade run by the military commander General Bin Nayel called Brigade 12, Bin Nayel is affiliated with Haftar’s forces. Based on the issues discussed above, one can raise the following questions: what are the components of Bin Nayel’s army? Why have they not participated in the war against Daesh despite their position near Derna? Why it was formed after the liberation of Derna, Nufalya, and Sirte? What is the geographical basis it intends to control?

It is evident that Fezzan’s elders and mayors have no clear answers for such questions, especially that they always use the term “vying parties”.