Italy PM Meloni signs cooperation deals in Libya visit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Libya on Tuesday to sign cooperation agreements with leaders from both administrations in the conflict-torn country.

Accompanied by a ministerial delegation on her second visit to Libya since taking office in October 2022, Meloni first met the head of the Tripoli-based government, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, Libyan officials said.

"Declarations of intent" were signed on cooperation in health, education, and research as well as youth and sports, an Italian government statement said.

The declarations include promoting university exchange programs, research in renewable energy and ocean-based economic activities, and facilitating Libyans' access to treatment in Italian hospitals, particularly children when such care is unavailable in Libya.

The agreements come as part of Meloni's long-awaited "Mattei Plan" named after Enrico Mattei, founder of the Italian energy company Eni. In the 1950s, he advocated for cooperation with African countries to develop their natural resources.

On her first visit to Libya early last year, Meloni signed a major gas deal with the North African country, the continent's richest in hydrocarbon reserves.

Meloni on Tuesday also met Mohamed al-Menfi, head of the Libyan transitional presidential council.

In a statement on Facebook, Menfi's office highlighted "the importance of the return of Italian companies... to reconstruction projects" as well as maintaining "consultations in the areas of the fight against terrorism and illegal migration".

After Tripoli, Meloni went to Benghazi to meet with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who backs Libya's eastern-based administration, "by Italy's consolidated commitment to be present throughout Libya and to work with all Libyan actors", the Italian statement said.

Libya has been plagued by political instability and violence since the overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

The country is split between Dbeibah's UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, backed by Haftar.

Political instability has helped turn Libya into a fertile ground for human traffickers, who have long been accused of abuses against the thousands of irregular migrants who attempt the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Italy every year.

Meloni vowed last month to take a "new approach" towards Africa, particularly on migration, on a visit to Libya's neighbor Tunisia, another key departure point for irregular migration to Europe.

Critics have said the Mattei plan is aimed at funneling African energy north while exchanging investment in local economies for deals to curb migration.