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BENGHAZI, Libya An air strike on a prison has killed five people in a Libyan desert town where armed factions have been fighting along a strategic route from the southern border region to the capital Tripoli, a medical source said on Tuesday.

No one claimed responsibility for the strike in Sabha, but forces aligned with a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli control a desert air base there that previously came under air attack from rivals allied with eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.

Two guards and three prisoners were killed in the strike on the prison in Sabha and four other people were wounded early on Tuesday, the medical source said.

The North African OPEC state slipped into turmoil after the 2011 civil war that ended Muammar Gaddafi's rule. It has been plagued since by fighting between rival political leaders backed by their military factions, each claiming legitimacy.

The southern front line has focused on control around the Tamanhent air base 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Sabha. The fighting risks escalating into the first major confrontation between forces tied to the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Haftar is aligned with a former eastern parliament and government that have rejected the GNA since it arrived in the capital Tripoli, in the far west of the country, more than a year ago as part of U.N. efforts to stabilize Libya.

His forces have been extending their control along Libya's central Mediterranean coast and southwards into the desert regions of Jufra and Sabha. He says they also intend to take over Tripoli though some analysts doubt his military strength.

Tamanhent is controlled by a force from Misrata, a militarily powerful western city that has backed the GNA.

Since 2014, loose military alliances based in the east and west of Libya have been engaged in intermittent conflict and the Western-backed GNA has struggled to extend its control even in Tripoli, where rival militia factions operate.

(Reporting by Ayman Al-Warfalli in Benghazi and Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; writing by Patrick Markey; editing by Mark Heinrich)

CARACAS Venezuelan security forces fired scores of tear gas volleys and turned water cannons on rock-throwing protesters on a bridge in Caracas on Wednesday as the death toll from this month's anti-government unrest hit at least 29.

ANKARA Turkish authorities said they had arrested more than a thousand "secret Imams" who had infiltrated police forces on behalf of a U.S.-based cleric accused by President Tayyip Erdogan of trying to topple him last July.

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Air strike kills five in southern Libya's Sabha: medical source - Reuters

Two commanders from Libya were in Brussels on Tuesday (25 April) to discuss migration with the European Commission as part of a broader effort to stop people from fleeing into Europe.

A senior EU commission official told MEPs on Monday that a "huge meeting" had been organised on their behalf by the EU's foreign policy branch, the European External Action Service.

"We are dealing with two coastguards. One reporting to the ministry of interior, the other one to the ministry of defence. We try to engage with both," said Maciej Popowski, a commission deputy-director.

Popowski said discussions would revolve around the needs of the commanders and what the EU could offer in return. It would also "make sure that the assistance we offer is used in an appropriate way, so that these funds are well spent."

Asked for details on the meeting, an EU commission spokesperson told EUobserver that it was about providing the Libyan Coast Guard with support as part of a plan with the EU's naval operation Sofia.

Sofia's primary goal is to crack down on migrant smugglers and "disrupt" their business model.

The EU also wants to help dismantle the networks by beefing up Libyan border surveillance with the help of seven member states through the so-called Seahorse Mediterranean Network.

That includes giving the Libyan navy access to the EU nabla data, and possibly, by extension, giving access to the country's ministries of defence and interior.

Both ministries are plagued with problems.

The EU's own mission to Libya said in a confidential report leaked to a British NGO that the interior ministry was infiltrated "by militias and religiously motivated stakeholders" and that its defence ministry had "little or no control of the armed forces".

Despite the issues, the EU still decided to set aside some 90 million in April to help fund migrant projects inside the war-torn country.

Around half of that money will go to somehow improving the lives of people detained in centres, which are often run by armed militia groups.

That also includes detection and analysis of data on mixed migration flows, routes and trends through a so-called Displacement Tracking Mechanism.

But not everyone is convinced of the EU schemes.

"Migrants are big business in Libya, pumping more money into that system is actually going to make it worse," Doctors Without Borders' (MSF's) Libya programme manager, Annemarie Loof, told MEPs.

The NGO has access to a handful of detention facilities in Tripoli and one in Misrata.

Loof described the conditions as deplorable with some people having to toss their urine onto the walls for it to evaporate given the lack of toilets.

"They are sold, you can sponsor a migrant if you wish, which means you pay a certain sum of money and take somebody home," she said.

The EU is training the Libyan coast guard to rescue people at sea. They are then sent to a detention centre to languish.

MSF warns that returning more people to already overcrowded detention centres will only aggravate the abuse and exploitation.

Italy recently gave the Libyan coast guard the first two of 10 rescue boats.

The whole is made worse given the lack of any real influence and control over the country by the internationally recognised National Government of Accord (GNA).

One EU official also noted to the MEPs on Monday that Libya's oil-based economy was on the verge of total collapse given the drop in prices and exports.

"This is going very bad," he said.

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Libya commanders in Brussels for migration talks - EUobserver

The meeting in Rome had an atmosphere of friendliness and openness, said a Libyan state council statement. Photograph: Giulio Origlia/Getty Images

Rome has brokered a diplomatic breakthrough in Libya that has the potential to bring the two main warring sides together in a new political agreement after years of division, fighting and economic misery.

The scale of the breakthrough will be tested later this week, but Italy is hailing a compromise brokered between the presidents of the house of representatives, Ageela Saleh, and the state council, Abdulrahman Sewehli.

The meeting was overseen by the Italian foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, and the Italian ambassador to Libya.

According to a statement from the state council, there was an atmosphere of friendliness and openness at the meeting in Rome. The statement also said there would have to be further consultations between the two sides this week in order to bring about reconciliation and stop the bleeding as well as [ensure] the return of displaced persons.

The house of representatives led by Saleh has refused to approve a government of national accord based in Tripoli for more than a year until changes are made to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), which can only be effected by a joint team from the house and the state council.

The impasse has led to political deadlock and a military standoff between forces in the west and east of the country.

The state council said in a note: We agreed to reach peaceful and fair solutions to outstanding issues, a reference to one of the fundamental dilemmas in the Libyan crisis: the military and political role in any unity government of the military commander of forces in the east, Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.

Saleh, who has been president of the house since August 2014, has been subject to US and EU sanctions since 2016 for stalling and blocking political progress.

It appears Donald Trump, who met the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, this week, does not intend to adopt a hands-on role in Libya, in effect ceding the the future of the territory to north African countries, the EU, Russia, Egypt and some Gulf states.

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Libya's warring sides reach diplomatic breakthrough in Rome ... - The Guardian

The Libya Observer

News Roundup - Mon, Apr 24, 2017 The Libya Observer The Libyan Taxes Department said the statements of the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Al-Sidiq Al-Kabeer, about lack of payments for the government in the taxes sector were not true, saying the revenue from taxes hit 1.5 billion dinars with a ... Fayez Al-Serraj meets with Head of Gas and Fuel Crisis CommissionLibyan Express all 3 news articles »

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News Roundup - Mon, Apr 24, 2017 - The Libya Observer

The Libya Observer

Libyan Taxes Department rejects CBL's Governor "baseless statements" The Libya Observer The Libyan Taxes Department said the statements of the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Al-Sidiq Al-Kabeer, about lack of payments for the government in the taxes sector were not true, saying the revenue from taxes hit 1.5 billion dinars with a ...

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Libyan Taxes Department rejects CBL's Governor "baseless statements" - The Libya Observer