EU parliament head in Libya urges 'blacklist' of traffickers

TRIPOLI, Libya - European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani in Libya on Monday called for a "blacklist" of people smugglers to be set up to help stem the flow of migrants from Africa to Europe.

The European Union is grappling with the issue of migration from Africa and the Middle East and hammered out a controversial plan last week to curb the number of arrivals.

People traffickers in North Africa have taken advantage of chaos in Libya since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gadhafi to send people on the perilous voyage northward across the Mediterranean Sea.