Italy likely to provide bulk of 200-300-troop Libya mission

(ANSA) - Rome, April 26 - The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) will be protected by anywhere from 200 to 300 international troops and Italy will likely contribute the greatest number, defence sources told ANSA on Tuesday. The troops will be sent when UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler moves to Tripoli along with UNSMIL staff, the sources said. However it is still premature to talk about numbers because the UN has requested troops from the entire international community and it is still not known how many the other countries will contribute, they said. The government earlier denied reports Italy has offered to send 900 soldiers to Libya, with the general defence staff describing the reports as "groundless". On Tuesday, daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Italy was preparing to send a contingent of between 600 and 900 soldiers and carabinieri to Libya to help guard sensitive sites including oil wells and train local security forces there.
    The reports came the day after Libyan premier Fayez al-Sarraj called on the UN, Europe, and neighbouring African countries to help Libya protect its oil resources from so called Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist terrorists.