The United Nations postponed peace talks between Libya's warring factions which had been scheduled for Monday and no new date has been set for the meetings.
The talks had originally been slated for December 9 but were repeatedly delayed as fighting intensified between the beleaguered internationally recognized government and Islamist-backed militias.
"The dialogue had been scheduled to take place. It did not," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
UN envoy Bernardino Leon was consulting all sides to reach agreement on the timing and the venue for what would be the second round of meetings on the worsening turmoil in Libya.
Dujarric cited difficulties in finding a "venue that complies with all the security requirements" as one of the reasons for the delay.
More than three years after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a Western-backed revolt, the country remains awash in weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
Leon chaired a first round of talks between rival lawmakers in the oasis town of Ghadames in September.
But his efforts to convene a new round of talks and to broker parallel negotiations between the warring parties have so far failed, despite a warning by the UN Security Council in October that it would impose sanctions on any party that undermined the process.
The internationally recognized parliament voted last week not to attend any negotiations if the rival legislature in Tripoli was invited.
The Islamist-backed militia alliance that controls the capital and Libya's third largest city Misrata launched an offensive last month to try to capture the country's main eastern oil export terminals.
Loyalists of the internationally recognized government, which has taken refuge in the remote east, responded with their first air strikes on Misrata.
- Libya attacks oil tanker -
The government, now based in Tobruk near the Egyptian border, launched air strikes at the weekend on an oil tanker in the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crew members and wounding others.
"These kinds of incidents only underscore the need for all parties to reach an agreement, to talk and to have a dialogue," said Dujarric.
The United Nations says that since fighting intensified in May, hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have fled their homes.
Arab League ambassadors were due to meet in Cairo later on Monday to discuss the deepening conflict.
Libya's neighbors, fearful of a spillover of the violence, have called for international intervention.
But French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that any intervention would require a clear mandate from the United Nations, "clear organization" and the appropriate "political conditions."
"We're not yet going down that road," Hollande told French radio.
The United Nations postponed peace talks between Libya’s warring factions which had been scheduled for Monday and no new date has been set for the meetings.
The talks had originally been slated for December 9 but were repeatedly delayed as fighting intensified between the beleaguered internationally recognized government and Islamist-backed militias.
“The dialogue had been scheduled to take place. It did not,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
UN envoy Bernardino Leon was consulting all sides to reach agreement on the timing and the venue for what would be the second round of meetings on the worsening turmoil in Libya.
Dujarric cited difficulties in finding a “venue that complies with all the security requirements” as one of the reasons for the delay.
More than three years after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a Western-backed revolt, the country remains awash in weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
Leon chaired a first round of talks between rival lawmakers in the oasis town of Ghadames in September.
But his efforts to convene a new round of talks and to broker parallel negotiations between the warring parties have so far failed, despite a warning by the UN Security Council in October that it would impose sanctions on any party that undermined the process.
The internationally recognized parliament voted last week not to attend any negotiations if the rival legislature in Tripoli was invited.
The Islamist-backed militia alliance that controls the capital and Libya’s third largest city Misrata launched an offensive last month to try to capture the country’s main eastern oil export terminals.
Loyalists of the internationally recognized government, which has taken refuge in the remote east, responded with their first air strikes on Misrata.
– Libya attacks oil tanker –
The government, now based in Tobruk near the Egyptian border, launched air strikes at the weekend on an oil tanker in the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crew members and wounding others.
“These kinds of incidents only underscore the need for all parties to reach an agreement, to talk and to have a dialogue,” said Dujarric.
The United Nations says that since fighting intensified in May, hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have fled their homes.
Arab League ambassadors were due to meet in Cairo later on Monday to discuss the deepening conflict.
Libya’s neighbors, fearful of a spillover of the violence, have called for international intervention.
But French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that any intervention would require a clear mandate from the United Nations, “clear organization” and the appropriate “political conditions.”
“We’re not yet going down that road,” Hollande told French radio.
