Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Ramadan
Fatwa Audios
Month of Mercy
Women
Eed Al- Fitr
Food Recipes
Videos
At least 21 people have drowned and hundreds more are believed missing after two boats carrying migrants to Italy sank off the coast of Libya in separate incidents, Libyan officials say.
The bodies were found after a boat bound for Europe carrying about 250 people sank off the coast of the North African state, the officials said on Monday.
At least 23 people were rescued by Libyan coastguards when a second boat packed with migrants went down, but another 342 people on board were still missing, the officials told the Reuters news agency.
"We have information that two more boats were drifting off Libya's coast but we do not know the exact conditions and the number of the migrants on board," one of the officials said.
One official said the incidents took place over the past two days and search operations were continuing.
Libyan officials said it was not yet clear whether the two confirmed capsized boats and the two others spotted drifting off Libya all sailed from Libya, but the country is a popular departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
Joint sea patrols
The deaths come as Italy and Libya are set to launch joint sea patrols in May in an effort aimed at stopping the influx of migrants trying to reach European countries.
Roberto Maroni, the Italian interior minister, said on Monday that the patrols would begin on May 15, and he expected that day to "mark the end" of illegal migration from North Africa.
"We have done everything possible to prevent arrivals," he said.
"We have signed a deal with Libya and the Libyan government committed to launch on May 15 patrols along the coasts with six vessels.
"Until then, we will continue to ask the Libyan authorities to intensify controls, but I guess that there will still be arrivals," Maroni said.
Nearly 37,000 immigrants deemed illegal landed on Italian coasts last year, a 75 per cent rise from 2007, according to the Italian interior ministry.
Rights groups say most migrants risk their lives in treacherous waters trying to reach Europe hoping to escape poverty in their home countries.
PHOTO CAPTION
Illegal migrants arrive at the port of Tarragona, Spain, in 2007.
Al-Jazeera
Prayer Times
Prayer times for Doha, Qatar 
