UN chief warns risk of armed confrontation in Libya

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that fighting between rival factions in Libya could break out again as forces from the east of the country move towards Tripoli, and he appealed for restraint.

"I am deeply concerned by the military movement taking place in Libya and the risk of confrontation," Guterres said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

"There is no military solution. Only intra-Libyan dialogue can solve Libyan problems. I call for calm and restraint as I prepare to meet the Libyan leaders in the country."

Guterres said on arriving in the capital he was committed to a Libyan-led political process that would lead to peace, stability, democracy, and prosperity.

The oil-rich country, which has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed removal of its long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has at least two rival administrations: the internationally recognised government based in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj; and another in the eastern city of Tobruk, which is allied with renegade General Khalifa Haftar.

Tensions rose on Wednesday after eastern forces loyal to Haftar said they had moved towards the western part of the country, prompting the Tripoli-based government to declare a military alert.

A brief skirmish between Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces allied to Serraj was reported on Wednesday evening near a town south of the capital.

"Right now they [there] are clashes south of Tripoli ... in Gharyan," LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told the UAE-based al-Arabiya channel.

No casualty figures or details were immediately available.

The confrontation was a setback for the United Nations and Western countries which have been trying to mediate between Serraj and Haftar, who met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal. A national conference is set to follow this month to agree on a road map for elections.