Italy and five other countries have issued a joint statement urging a ceasefire in the three-month-old battle for Libya's capital Tripoli between eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar's forces and militias allied to the internationally recognised government.
"The governments of Egypt, France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America reiterate their deep concern about ongoing hostilities in Tripoli, call for an immediate de-escalation and halt to the current fighting," said the Tuesday statement.
The ongoing violence has claimed nearly 1,100 lives, displaced more than 100,000 people, and "fuelled a growing humanitarian emergency," said the statement.
The warring sides in Libya should rapidly return to United Nations-mediated peace talks aimed at ending the conflict and leading to democratic elections in the chaos-stricken oil state, the statement said.
"There can be no military solution in Libya," the statement underlined.
"The ongoing confrontation has threatened to destabilize Libya’s energy sector, and exacerbated the tragedy of human migration in the Mediterranean," the statement noted.
The statement's six signatories voiced "deep concerns" about the exploitation of the Libya's security vacuum by terrorist groups and said they "fully support" the leadership of UN special envoy Ghassan Salame.
Salem is working "to stabilise the situation in Tripoli, to restore confidence in order to achieve a cessation of hostilities, expand his engagement throughout Libya, promote inclusive dialogue, and create the conditions for the resumption of the UN political process," according to the statement.
"We need to re-energise UN mediation, which aims to promote a transitional government representing all Libyans, prepare for credible parliamentary and presidential elections, enable a fair allocation of resources, and advance the reunification of the Central Bank of Libya and other Libyan sovereign institutions."
The statement called on all UN member states to fully respect their obligations to help bring peace and stability to the country and to "prevent destabilizing arms shipments and safeguard Libya's oil resources in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2259 (2015), 2278 (2016), 2362 (2017), and 2473 (2019)."
All sides in the Libyan conflict including its institutions have a responsibility to protect civilians, safeguard civilian infrastructure, and facilitate access to humanitarian supplies, the statement concluded.
