Rome, Dec 18 (IANS): The civil war in Libya cannot be ended by military force, Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the North African country's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maitig during talks in Tripoli on Tuesday, according to Foreign Ministry sources.
Di Maio earlier on Tuesday held talks in the Libyan capital with his counterpart Mohammed Taher Siyala, the sources said.
A deadly battle for Tripoli began in early April between militias allied with the internationally recognised unity government and the forces of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, who launched a military assault on the capital.
Oil-rich Libya has had rival administrations in the east and west of the country since 2014 and has been in turmoil since the Nato-backed ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.