Obama says the US and Italy are working together in Libya

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and Italian President Sergio Mattarella met Monday to discuss efforts to fight the spread of the Islamic State in Libya, where the extremist group is capitalizing on political instability to increase its influence.

Obama and Mattarella reviewed plans to support a Libyan unity government, Obama told reporters after the meeting in the Oval Office. With a stable government in place "that will allow us then to help them build up their security capacity and to push back against effort by ISIL to gain a foothold," Obama said, using an alternative acronym for the group.

Obama has been deliberating whether to take more aggressive and sustained military action against the Islamic State group in Libya. Last week, he directed his national security team to bolster counterterrorism efforts there.

Meanwhile, U.S. and European diplomats are pushing to solve Libya's political crisis.

The country has been divided between two rival factions since 2014, part of the fallout from the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Italy has said it would take the international lead in providing security support, along with help from the U.S., should talks to form a single government succeed.

In his remarks, Obama said Italy already has played a key role in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, particularly in the fight for the Mosul Dam in Iraq.

He said the leaders also discussed efforts to manage the flow of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria.

Mattarella said he and Obama agreed on a "very balanced" and "humane" approach.

"We have to consider issues of security and the rights of the people that are affected," he said, speaking through a translator.