UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the commander of Libya’s eastern-based forces Wednesday that there can be no military solution to the conflict he launched in April 2019 against the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the commander, Khalifa Hifter, called the secretary-general and they discussed current developments in the oil-rich country, which saw his forces retreat from Tripoli last month. Hifter’s failed campaign to capture the capital has led to a humanitarian crisis, with 1 million people in need of aid and almost a half million people internally displaced. Guterres told Hifter that “the solution can only be political, and Libyan-owned and Libyan-led,” and he reaffirmed the U.N. commitment to talks between the two sides in the Libyan Joint Military Commission, Dujarric said.

Source: International New York Times July 01, 2020 21:22 UTC