France offers help to secure Libya's border

France has offered to work with Libya to seal its boders to Islamist fighters fleeing Mali, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday.

Libyan troops last year Reuters/Ismail Zitouny

Security officials say the vast deserts of southern Libya are becoming the latest safe havens

for Al-Qaeda-linked fighters driven out of Mali by the French-led offensive against Islamist militias.

"France is available to bring contributions to the sovereign tools of the Libyan state, especially on securing the borders," Le Drian told a press conference after attending a security conference in Singapore.

But he repeated President François Hollande’s assurance, in an interview with RFI, France 24 and TV5, that France it will not take military action Libya without UN backing.