Libya: Italian foreign minister makes flying visit to country

Italy and a number of other Western nations have said they are ready to provide help to Seraj, including training to bolster local security forces.

  Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni adjusts his headphones during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov following their meeting in Moscow, Russia, March 25, 2016. 

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni will visit Libya on Tuesday for talks with the head of the unity government Fayez Seraj, the Foreign Ministry said.

Gentiloni is the first senior Western official to fly to Tripoli since Seraj arrived in the city last month at the head of a U.N.-backed Presidential Council tasked with at ending the country's political impasse, resolving its armed conflict and tackling a growing threat from Islamic State jihadists.

Italy and a number of other Western nations have said they are ready to provide help to Seraj, including training to bolster local security forces.