Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday called on the United Nations to urgently appoint a new envoy to Libya as further military escalation in the war-ravaged country looms.
"Italy strongly urges that a new UN special representative to Libya be appointed as soon as possible," Di Maio said at a press conference in Rome with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.
Ghassan Salame of Lebanon quit as UN envoy on March 2 after almost three years in the post, tweeting that his health could no longer stand the "level of stress".
"I tried to re-unite Libyans and restrain foreign interference ... but for health reasons I can no longer continue with this level of stress," Salame wrote.
US diplomat Stephanie Turco Williams, who was Salame's deputy, is currently acting UN special envoy to Libya.