UN chief voices ‘deep concern’ over Libya mobilizations

TRIPOLI

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday expressed “deep concern” over recent military mobilizations in Libya and the potential for fresh conflict in the troubled North African country.

“I am deeply concerned by the military movements taking place in Libya and the risk of confrontation,” Guterres tweeted Thursday.

“There is no military solution,” he said in reference to Libya’s ongoing political crisis. “Only intra-Libyan dialogue can solve Libya’s problems.”

Speaking from Libyan capital Tripoli, where he arrived Wednesday, Guterres urged the country’s rival political camps to exercise “calm and restraint”.

In an earlier tweet, the UN chief stressed his commitment to “supporting a Libyan-led political process leading to peace, stability, democracy and prosperity for the Libyan people”.

On Wednesday evening, Libya's UN-backed Presidential Council went on high alert after forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar -- who is affiliated with a rival government based in the eastern city of Al-Bayda -- reportedly began advancing westward toward Tripoli.

In a statement, Presidential Council Chairman Fayez al-Sarraj said that government security forces had been told to brace for a possible attack from the east.

Haftar on Wednesday reportedly ordered his forces to deploy to western parts of the country with a view to “purging the region of terrorist groups and strongholds”.

The move prompted speculation that pro-Haftar forces plan to march on Tripoli, where the fragile unity government is headquartered.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, to which Haftar is linked, and another in Tripoli.

On April 14, a UN-sponsored “national dialogue” conference will be held in the western city of Ghadames with the ostensible aim of hammering out a political “roadmap” for the country’s future.