Rome - As more than 400 would-be immigrants landed on Monday in Sicily, Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said such arrivals from the North Africa would stop once an agreement involving Libyan naval patrols comes into effect in May.

"There's a commitment by the Libyan government to begin patrolling its coastline with six boats beginning on May 15," Maroni said.

"I have no reason to doubt that this will happen and that hence the problem will be solved," he added.

Rome  - The Italian government said Wednesday evening it would deport about 500 Tunisian refugees from the southern island of Lampedusa.

The refugees will be repatriated over two months, said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, according to the ANSA news agency, following an agreement reached with the Tunisian government to curb illegal immigration.

It was a difficult task to identify the refugees, but, as a first step, about 100 Tunisians would get deportation orders and will leave the island in the coming days.