Libya on brink of civil war as world leaders call for peace

World leaders have called for calm in Libya with the country on the brink of another civil war.

The words come as eastern Libyan troops commanded by Khalifa Haftar head west towards the country's capital of Tripoli in a challenge to the internationally-recognised National Accord government.

The UN Security Council has called on Mr Haftar's forces to stop all military action in the north African country.

Christoph Heusgen, president of the UN Security Council, said: "They (the council) called on LNA forces to halt all military movements.

"They also called on all forces to de-escalate and halt military activity.

"There can be no military solution to the conflict."

The G7 echoed these words, saying: "We urge all involved parties to immediately halt all military activity and movements toward Tripoli, which are hindering prospects for the UN-led political process, putting civilians in danger, and prolonging the suffering of the Libyan people."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres met Mr Haftar and said afterwards: "I leave Libya with a heavy heart and deeply concerned.

"I still hope it is possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli."

As they spoke there were clashes at the international airport on the city's outskirts, which had been abandoned since 2014 but there are conflicting reports as to whether it is controlled by government forces or by Mr Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Mr Haftar was a one-time officer in the army of Libya's former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

But a coup plot against the leader prompted two decades of exile in Virginia before he returned to Libya after Gaddafi was violently overthrown in 2011.

Post-Gaddafi Libya was a kaleidoscope of factions, sects and groups jostling for control and Mr Haftar built himself up as a warlord in the country's east.

He gathered former Gaddafi soldiers in 2014 and they took the eastern city of Benghazi three years later. This year he took the oilfields in the south.

On Thursday they defeated forces allied to UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj to take Gharyan, about 50 miles south of Tripoli and have now reached the coastal city's outskirts.

Mr Haftar, 75, has presented himself as an opponent of Islamic extremism while critics see him as a new version of Gaddafi.

But the LNA has encountered stiff resistance in the country's west, according to reports from the ground, and government forces took 145 of the group's fighters prisoner in Zawiya west of Tripoli on Thursday.

There have been attempts to help both sides find peace, with a meeting last month to discuss power sharing between Mr Haftar and Mr Serraj, 59, who comes from a wealthy business family.

The UN also wants a plan for elections.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have backed Mr Haftar, seeing him as an ally against terrorism, although the UAE has also called for an end to the fighting.

Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini called for peace, saying: "We need to throw water on the fire, not petrol on the fire.

"I hope that people, acting out of economic or business self-interest, are not looking for a military solution, which would be devastating."

Libya is a transit point for Europe-bound refugees and migrants and Italy is the first destination for many of them.