Libya is a key player in the Mediterranean and is vital to the region's growth, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said during a visit to the war-wracked country on Tuesday.
''For Italy, Libya is in important actor and is crucial to building a new development model for the Mediterranean with flourishing trade and growth prospects for all countries in the region," Di Maio said.
Di Maio made the remarks to Libya's internationally recognised premier Fayez al-Sarraj in talks during a visit to Libya.
Italy backs the truce agreed last month between Libya's rival administrations in Tripoi and in the east of the country, Di Maio also told Sarraj.
"Italy views favourably the agreement reached with Saleh on a ceasefire and we support it," he said.
Italy opposes meddling in Libya by foreign powers, Di Maio underlined, echoing comment made by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell, who also visited Libya on Tuesday.
Libya, a former Italian colony, has been riven by violence since the Nato-backed ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Warring factions in the east and west of the country backed by a myriad of militias and various foreign powers are waging a six-year-old civil war for control of the country and its vast oil resources.
