Insight - Unable to halt Europe-bound migrants, Tripoli demands help

Libyan Navy boat carries illegal migrants who attempted to flee the coast to Europe back to the coastal city of Tripoli May 5, 2015. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Europe cannot halt the deadly traffic of African migrants across the Mediterranean unless it ends a boycott of forces that have seized power in the Libyan capital and helps authorities there cope, the de facto government in Tripoli said.

Chaos and civil war since NATO warplanes helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 have turned the North African country into the launching point for human traffickers smuggling tens of thousands of people across the Mediterranean.