TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya’s coastguard rescued nearly 500 migrants on Tuesday at sea west of the capital Tripoli, a spokesman said, underlining the challenge of trying to slow an exodus from Africa and the Middle East.

The migrants included people from sub-Saharan countries, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

“Coastguards rescued early morning today 140 illegal migrants west of Tripoli and another group of 164 migrants were rescued off Sabratha including seven women and six children,” a spokesman for Libya’s naval forces told Reuters.

Later another group of 150 were rescued off Tripoli.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed the Libyan desert and taken to flimsy boats on the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe in recent years.

A plan was agreed in Paris on Monday by four European countries and three African states, including Libya, to support nations struggling to contain the flow of people.

Leaders agreed on the principle of setting up a mechanism to identify legitimate migrants fleeing war and persecution, and to use the United Nations to register them in Niger and Chad so as to prevent them from being exploited by people smugglers.

Libya has been in turmoil since an uprising six years ago overthrew former leader Muammar Gaddafi.</s>Leaders agreed on the principle of setting up a mechanism to identify legitimate migrants fleeing war and persecution, and to use the United Nations to register them in Niger and Chad so as to prevent them from being exploited by people-smugglers. (Photo: AP) Leaders agreed on the principle of setting up a mechanism to identify legitimate migrants fleeing war and persecution, and to use the United Nations to register them in Niger and Chad so as to prevent them from being exploited by people-smugglers. (Photo: AP)

Libya’s coastguard rescued more than 300 migrants on Tuesday at sea west of the capital Tripoli, a spokesman said. “Coastguards rescued early morning today 140 illegal migrants west of Tripoli and another group of 164 migrants were rescued off Sabratha including seven women and six children,” a spokesman for Libya’s naval forces told Reuters.

The migrants included people from sub-Saharan countries, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, he said. Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East have crossed the Libyan desert and taken to flimsy boats on the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe in recent years.

A plan was agreed on Monday by four European countries and three African states, including Libya, to support nations struggling to contain the flow of people.

Leaders agreed on the principle of setting up a mechanism to identify legitimate migrants fleeing war and persecution, and to use the United Nations to register them in Niger and Chad so as to prevent them from being exploited by people-smugglers. Libya has been in turmoil since an uprising six years ago overthrew former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Hundreds of migrants disembarked at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo on Wednesday (August 31) after being rescued at sea in a day that notched up the greatest number of rescue operations this year.

Some 6,500 migrants were saved off the Libyan coast in 40 separate rescue missions on Monday (August 29), in one of the largest influxes of refugees in a single day.

The migrants were packed on board scores of boats, many of them flimsy rubber dinghies that become dangerously unstable in high seas. Most were believed to be Africans.

Data from the International Organization for Migration said around 105,000 migrants had reached Italy by boat so far in 2016, many of them setting sail from Libya.

An estimated 2,726 men, women and children have died over the same period trying to make the journey.

Italy has been on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis for three years, and more than 400,000 have successfully made the voyage to Italy from North Africa since the beginning of 2014, fleeing violence and poverty.</s>Libya’s navy says it has intercepted and brought to shore vessels carrying nearly 700 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe over the past two days.

Colonel Ayoub Qassem said the coast guard of the UN-backed government in Tripoli on Tuesday intercepted two boats together carrying 290 migrants.

A third vessel with 164 on board was intercepted off the coast of Sebratha.

With Italian help, the coast guard intercepted another boat with 88 migrants and one with 134 migrants on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have in recent years attempted to cross the Mediterranean from Libya on rickety boats in the hope of reaching Europe, and thousands have died.
The Libyan Navy rescues nearly 500 migrants in three operations in the seas west of the capital Tripoli.