Congo leader says solving Libya crisis key to migration problem

Rescued migrants off the Libyan coast arrive at the harbour in Catania, Italy on April 20, 2015. By Alberto Pizzoli (AFP)

Paris (AFP) - Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso said Tuesday Europe and Africa must work together to solve the chaos in Libya if they want to curb the migrant flow that has seen thousands drown in the Mediterranean.

"Nearly 1,000 Africans at the bottom of the Mediterranean (in one week): silence is no longer possible," Nguesso told French radio Europe 1.

He said Africans were the worst affected by the long list of shipwrecks that have claimed over 1,700 lives this year.

"The fundamental question that must be addressed is Libya," he said, adding the crisis in that country must be "seriously taken in hand. Europe and Africa must work together to solve the problem."

The latest sinking of a migrant ship, in which 800 are feared to have drowned, left from Libya on Saturday. A week earlier another 400 died when their vessel capsized off the Libyan coast.

Libya has been riven by conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival governments and parliaments and armed groups now battling to control its cities and oil wealth.

The chaos has provided fertile ground for people smugglers who lure migrants from all over Africa with the promise of getting them to Europe -- a perilous boat ride away.

"The Libyan State must exist. If it existed and functioned normally I think we would better contain these criminals," said Nguesso, urging the African Union to meet on the immigration crisis.