UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy for Libya on Thursday urged the parties in Libya and their foreign sponsors to work toward a ceasefire, as the conflict is going on even after the commencement of the truce accepted by both parties.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting, the UN envoy in Libya Ghassan Salame said that representatives of concerned countries and regional organizations, some of whom have directly or indirectly fuelled the conflict, agreed at the Berlin conference not to interfere in Libya's internal affairs and to abide by the UN arms embargo.
The conference was held on Jan. 19. Participants agreed to respect an arms embargo imposed on Libya by the UN Security Council and to work in military, economic, and political spheres toward peace in Libya.
"Berlin was a serious effort to try to unify a discordant international community and to give hope to the beleaguered Libyans of the Summit participants' provision of a protective international umbrella," he said.
According to Salame, the summit occurred against the backdrop of the truce accepted by both parties to the conflict. "But with recent developments on the ground, I regret to report that the truce holds only in name," he said.
Salame added the artillery exchanges have significantly increased in Tripoli in recent days, with an associated increase in civilian casualties due to the use of indiscriminate shelling. Moreover, Salame was "also deeply worried by the military reinforcements coming to both sides, raising the spectre of a broader conflict engulfing the wider region."
"The warring parties have continued to receive a sizable amount of advanced equipment, fighters and advisors from foreign sponsors, in brazen violation of the arms embargo as well as of the pledges made by representatives of these countries in Berlin."
All of these manoeuvres to resupply the two parties threaten to precipitate a new and much more dangerous conflagration, said the UN envoy, adding that the parties and their foreign sponsors should desist from reckless actions and instead renew their expressed commitment to work toward a ceasefire.
