The agreement on joint patrols between Libya and Italy should facilitate the participation of the former in the EU's own missions against illegal immigration in the Mediterranean, European Commission sources have told The Times.

Late last year Italy and Libya agreed to carry out joint patrols inside Libyan territorial waters and its Search and Rescue area. The EU's operation will once again be coordinated by border control agency Frontex.

"We have been talking to Libya over the possibility of participating in our joint patrols for a long time and till now we have not reached a conclusion. The Commission welcomes the recent deal struck between Libya and Italy, an EU member state, as this should facilitate Tripoli's involvement in our missions," the sources said.

"The relevant Commission departments are engaging with the Libyan authorities to explore the possibilities for cooperation on migration management and fighting illegal migration in particular. The Commission expects this cooperation to take concrete shape in 2008."

Libya has until now twice refused to take part in the EU's patrols conducted in the Sicily-Malta-Libya strait during short periods in 2006 and 2007. It had not even given permission to the member states participating in these missions, including Malta and Italy, to enter its sea and air space for search and rescue missions.

According to the Italian-Libyan agreement, signed on December 30, Italian and Libyan military personnel will patrol the Libyan coast from six Italian patrol boats made purposely available for this operation.

The patrols started at the beginning of the year and are concentrating on the ports of Zuwarah, Zaniyah and Miswatah from where most of the illegal human trafficking is believed to start.

According to the deal, the six patrol boats will eventually be donated to Libya. The agreement also includes the setting up, at Italy's expense, of a command centre in Tripoli, which includes the most advanced satellite and radar systems to watch all maritime movements between Libya and Sicily. The centre is being manned by Italian and Libyan personnel.

Asked whether, as a result of this agreement, the Commission will insist that Libya and Italy take part in the next Frontex patrols, the sources said only that they will be adopting a "wait and see" approach.

This year Frontex is expected to launch its central Mediterranean anti-immigration mission, called Nautilus III, in April. This will be the longest mission so far covering at least the following six months up to the end of September.

Frontex has already earmarked €8 million (Lm3.47 million) specifically for this mission.