Libya on Tuesday urged the EU to "honour its commitment" to help stem the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in search of work.

Libya "calls on the European Union to honour its commitment to fight this phenomenon by providing technical aid, training and equipment," the interior ministry said.

It also called for the international community "to assume its full responsibility on this phenomenon with human dimensions which affects all countries and costs thousands of victims a year" in lives lost at sea.

While the European Union has been urging greater vigilance by Libya of its maritime borders, Tripoli is seeking one billion dollars in EU aid to combat illegal migration.

Libya, a favourite transit point for African migrants with its long land and sea frontiers, argues that the EU has so far failed to respect a July 2007 commitment to set up a joint mechanism to supervise borders.

The interior ministry said Libya -- which has agreed to the return of migrants intercepted at sea by the Italian navy -- had spent about 50 million dollars between 2004 and 2008 on border patrols.

{AFP}