By Walid Abdullah </p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – 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.</p> <p>“I am deeply concerned by the military movements taking place in Libya and the risk of confrontation,” Guterres tweeted Thursday.</p> <p>“There is no military solution,” he said in reference to Libya’s ongoing political crisis. “Only intra-Libyan dialogue can solve Libya’s problems.”</p> <p>Speaking from Libyan capital Tripoli, where he arrived Wednesday, Guterres urged the country’s rival political camps to exercise “calm and restraint”.</p> <p>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.
<p>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”.</p> <p>The move prompted speculation that pro-Haftar forces plan to march on Tripoli, where the fragile unity government is headquartered.</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>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.
