TRIPOLI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Thursday called on Libyan authorities to fully cooperate against COVID-19's impacts on economy.
"The consequences of the coronavirus go beyond the medical side and negatively affect the economy and the daily living needs of people," Serraj said in a speech broadcasted by the official Libyan TV channel.
"We demand legislative, regulatory, economic and financial bodies of the state to bear their historical responsibilities," he added.
"The situation is serious and needs full cooperation and strong and effective measures to drastically solve the resulting crisis," Serraj said.
"This pandemic is the common enemy, against which the whole world unite," he said, adding that "we consider the illegitimate aggressor (eastern-based army) as an ally instead of an enemy to attack Tripoli in face of the pandemic."
The eastern-based army has been leading a military campaign for nearly a year, trying to take over Tripoli from Serraj's government.
Thousands have been killed and injured in the fighting, and more than 150,000 have fled their homes away from the violence.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya on Wednesday called on Libyan parties to stop all hostilities and focus on fighting the novel coronavirus.
