U.N. to deploy security force to guard its base in Libya - envoy

United Nations Special Representative for Libya Ghassan Salame speaks during his visit to Benghazi University in Benghazi, Libya August 10, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

ROME (Reuters) - The United Nations is preparing to deploy up to 250 peacekeepers to Libya to guard its base in the capital as part of a plan to return its operations to the country, the head of the organisation's mission there said on Friday.

Backed by Western governments, the U.N. is trying to heal a rift between Libya's two rival governments, to tackle growing militant violence and people smuggling from its northern coast.