ROME (AP) - Italy would weigh participating in any military intervention to keep forces from the Islamic State group from advancing in Libya should diplomatic efforts fail, Italian officials said Monday.
The Italian defense minister has said Rome could contribute 5,000 troops to such a military mission. But Premier Matteo Renzi sought to dispel the notion his country already decided on military operations if launched under the auspices of the United Nations. Renzi told the private TG5 TV news "the proposal is to wait, so the U.N. Security Council can work with a bit more conviction on Libya" diplomatically.
U.N.-sponsored efforts must involve "all the players, the local tribes, African Union countries, Arab countries, the Europeans," Renzi said.
With Libya's security rapidly deteriorating, the number of migrants who set out in smugglers boats from Libyan shores toward Italy has surged. On Sunday alone, Italian authorities rescued more than 2,100 migrants and refugees, many of them fleeing the Syrian war. Italian intelligence officials have warned for weeks there would be a surge in sea arrivals as Libya unravels.