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Terrorist presence on migrants boats from Libya now a certainty - Italy's Salvini

17 April 2019 10:46 (UTC +04:00)

Chaos in Libya following General Khalifa Haftar’s offensive has increased the risk of terrorist presence on migrant boats headed for Italy, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, adding the country’s ports would remain closed, ONA reports citing Reuters.

“Islamic terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk, it has become a certainty: it is therefore my duty to reiterate that no docking will be allowed on Italian shores” he said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

Note that Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in an interview to Sky News that there could be an influx of more than 800,000 migrants from his country into Europe if the instability in his country continues.

"What's going to happen with this security breakdown is that 800,000 illegal migrants on Libyan ground will have to leave Libya and will cross the sea towards Europe."

"Amongst these 800,000 there are terrorists and criminals. This will be disastrous," he said.