Migrant terrorists travelling from Libya could cause devastation and “affect all of the EU” due to free movement, the nation’s prime minister has claimed
Faiez Sarraj’s warning comes after Spanish police linked the catastrophic terror attack in Barcelona which claimed the lives of 15 people to radical North African groups, like reported by express.co.uk.
The head of the UN-supported Libyan government Mr Sarraj said: “When migrants reach Europe, they will move freely.
“If, God forbid, there are terrorist elements among the migrants, a result of any incident will affect all of the EU.”
Almost 98,000 migrants are believed to have entered Italy from Libya in the last year.
Mr Sarraj has since called on the EU to help secure the nation’s border and asked the UN to lift an embargo which stops Libya from purchasing arms.
The prime minister also said it was time to pressure African nations into taking back economic migrants.
He told The Times: “The EU must do more to us help face smuggling.
“We can’t put the burden on Libya and Italy alone as it is important for all of Europe.”
In recent days Libya banned foreign ships from a stretch of water off its coast, prompting many NGOs to halt their search and rescue missions in a move welcomed by the Italian government.
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano accuses the European Union of abandoning his country as it struggles to cope with the refugee crisis.
Asked if Italy had been abandoned by other European nations, Mr Alfano said: “A very clear yes.”
He added: “Italy is contributing, but we cannot cope with this burden alone”.
He went on to claim European governments should be looking to Libya as “the only solution” to decrease the number of migrants reaching Italy.
