Italy wants eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's militia to withdraw from Tripoli and urges an immediate truce in the fighting with forces loyal to the internationally recognised government in the capital, premier Giuseppe Conte said on Monday.
"We hope that the Libyan National Army troops will withdraw," Conte told reporters, referring to Haftar's self-styled force.
"We want an immediate ceasefire," he said.
Conte was speaking to reporters after talks in Rome with Qatar's deputy premier and foreign minister Mohammed al-Thani aimed at halting the escalating warfare in Tripoli that has killed over 140 people, injured more than 600 this month and caused over 16,000 to flee their homes.
Qatar shared Italy's "intense concern" at the "military escalation" in Libya and that "this cannot be the answer" to the lawless country's problems, Conte said.
Thani earlier held talks in Rome with Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi which allowed "an in-depth exchange of views on the most recent dynamics of the Libyan crisis," according to a statement.
Libya has been wracked by conflict since the Nato-backed ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Rival administrations in the east and west are backed by a myriad of militias vying for power in the oil-rich country, which was an Italian colony from 1911-1947.
