France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States called on Thursday for an end to the military escalation in Libya, hours after Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar announced an operation to march on the capital, Tripoli.
“At this sensitive moment in Libya’s transition, military posturing and threats of unilateral action only risk propelling Libya back toward chaos,” they said in a joint statement released in Washington by the State Department. “We strongly believe that there is no military solution to the Libya conflict.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday, expressed his grave concern over the development.
“I want to make a strong appeal to stop... the escalation,” Guterres told reporters at the UN compound in Tripoli on Thursday.
Libya needed a political, not a military, solution, he added.
The UN chief was in Libya to help organize a reconciliation national conference.
Haftar had announced the Tripoli operation on Thursday, saying that his forces had entered the cities of Sorman, to the capital’s south, and Gharyan, to its west. They also advanced on the city of Sirte without facing any resistance from the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces of Fayez al-Sarraj.
In an address to his troops, he declared that the operation was aimed at eliminating remaining terrorist groups in the western region.
“We are today heeding the call of our people in our valuable capital,” he added, saying that he will remain true to his vow of ridding the country of “oppressors.”
The GNA forces went on military alert soon after the LNA announced its operation. Pro-GNA factions in the coastal city of Misrata vowed that they will confront the LNA’s march on Tripoli.
Armed groups from Misrata moved to Tripoli to defend it, residents said, according to Reuters.
The offensive is a setback for the UN and Western countries which have been trying to mediate between Haftar and Sarraj, who met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal.
The conference the UN is helping to organize is aimed at forging agreement on a roadmap for elections to resolve the prolonged instability in Libya.
