UNITED NATIONS -- Libya's ambassador to the United Nations is largely rejecting a European Union plan to fight the growing migrant crisis, saying his Western-backed government hasn't even been consulted and ruling out EU forces on Libyan soil "at this stage."
In an interview Friday, Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said the best way to resolve the crisis is to arm the "legitimate" government in a country that has fractured.
A rival regime is backed by Islamist-allied militias that have taken the capital, Tripoli.
And the ambassador warned that if there is no progress in U.N.-led peace talks in the coming weeks, his government, which is under a U.N. arms embargo, "has to take necessary steps even to take the capital by force."
Dabbashi said his government has been left out of the urgent international discussion of the migrant crisis, with thousands of people from the Middle East and Africa departing from Libya's shore for Europe and many dying at sea.
The crisis has grown in the chaos that has consumed Libya since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, after a Security Council-authorized military intervention.
Diplomats have been working quickly on a draft Security Council resolution, which would be militarily enforceable, to authorize an EU operation that would seize suspected migrant smuggling ships on the high seas, in Libya's territorial waters and even on the country's coast.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, is to brief the council Monday.
Council diplomats say Libya's blessing is needed, especially for any EU ground forces in Libya.
The council expects a request from Libyan authorities to allow that to happen, Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite, the current council president, said Thursday.
On Friday, Dabbashi gave a different impression.
"They never asked anything of us. Why should we send them this letter?" he asked.
"We will not accept any boots on the ground."
He called the idea of deploying more boats to the waters off Libya to save people a "completely stupid decision" because it would encourage even more migrants to go to his country, further burdening local authorities.
And he rejected the idea of destroying the smuggling boats, saying it would be difficult to distinguish between those and other boats.
The "only way out" of the crisis, he said, is to help his government, based in the east, to extend its control throughout the country, which also is now facing the rise of groups aligned with the Islamic State organization.
"Once the government retakes the capital, Tripoli, and controls the whole western area of Libya, I think it would be very easy to stop this flow of illegal immigrants to Europe because we know everyone who is involved in this business," he said, saying the smuggling operations are largely based in the West.
Some U.N. officials and diplomats are pressing for peace talks between Libya's two governments to reach a deal by the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in mid-June, saying that political stability in the country would help resolve the crisis.
Dabbashi was wary of the timing for a deal but said his government has been "very flexible" in the talks.
Without progress there, and without council support, he said, "we will do it our own way. ... Within months, Tripoli will be in the hands of the legitimate Libyan authorities."
Meanwhile in Europe, plans to introduce a quota system obliging countries to share the burden of settling refugees unraveled Friday as EU member states began rejecting the scheme.
Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia are among those to publicly object to a quota system, which would require unanimous agreement among the 28 EU nations.
"This is not solidarity. It is an unfair, unrighteous and dishonorable proposal which we cannot accept," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on state radio.
"It is a crazy idea for someone to let refugees into their own country, not defend their borders, and then say: 'Now I will distribute them among you, who did not want to let anyone in.'"
In a statement, Slovakia's Interior Ministry said that it "currently refuses binding quotas on migrants."
Estonia said it prefers voluntary relocation and resettlement for those fleeing.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that it will be "hard work" to put a quota system in place but said there was "a large group of countries" in favor. Merkel said she was "convinced that we will not be able to do without a solution in solidarity in Europe."
Germany, along with Sweden and France, is among a handful of countries accepting the people.
The EU's executive commission was to propose the plan Wednesday as part of a strategy to help front-line countries Italy, Greece and Malta cope with thousands of people.
Information for this article was contributed by Lorne Cook, Pablo Gorondi, Geir Moulson and Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press.
A Section on 05/09/2015