Stabilising Libya is "a strategic priority" for Italy, which aims to stop the deadly fighting in Tripoli through support for the United Nations envoy's efforts towards a truce and is pressuring regional powers to butt out of the conflict, premier Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday.
"Stabilising Libya is a strategic priority for Italy and is in the national interest," Conte told MPs during parliamentary question time.
"We are continuing to work at various levels towards several fundamental goals. The first is the rapid de-escalation of the conflict leading to a ceasefire through the work of the UN special envoy," Conte went on.
At the same time, Italy is also putting pressure on "regional players" to "stop actively backing" opposing sides in the more than three-month-old conflict, Conte said.
Italy is also working to resume a UN led political process in Libya, said Conte.
"We remain firmly convinced that there is no military solution to this crisis," he underlined.
Italy was one of six countries which last week issued a joint statement calling for an immediate end to the hostilities in Tripoli and a return to a UN mediated peace process.
The deadly battle for Tripoli pits eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar's forces against militias loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord. The GNA is backed by Turkey, Qatar and most Western nations, while the UEA, Egypt and Saudi Arabia support Haftar.
At least 1,093 people, including 106 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Tripoli that began in early April and at least 5,752 people, including 294 civilians, have been wounded while over 100,000 people have fled or lost their homes, according to the UN World Health Organisation.
Libya was an Italian colony from 1911-1943 and Italy has extensive energy interests in the oil-rich country.
