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| - Libya's UN-recognised government on Wednesday announced the arrest of a former coastguard wanted by Interpol and under UN sanctions for alleged human trafficking. Abd al-Rahman al-Milad, also known as al-Bidja, was arrested by senior security operatives in Tripoli on the back of an "Interpol notice and an arrest warrant issued by the prosecutor general," a statement by the Government of National Accord's interior ministry said. He is suspected, among other offences, of involvement in "human trafficking" and is under UN sanctions that include a travel ban and the blocking of his bank accounts. The statement did not give details of the arrest of Milad, 30, but Libyan media said he was intercepted at a police roadblock near the capital. The UN Security Council approved the sanctions against him and five other alleged kingpins of human trafficking networks centring on or involving Libya in June 2018. Milad had until then headed a coastguard unit at Zawiya, around 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of Tripoli, but was immediately suspended and later dismissed. Libya, a country in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, is a key embarkation point for migrants attempting to make the potentially deadly voyage to Europe across the Mediterranean. So far this year, some 10,000 people have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya by its coastguard, according to the International Organization for Migration, which deems the country an unsafe destination for migrants to return to. nd-rb/gk/dwo/kir
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