UN chief visits Libya, calling warring factions to dialogue

TRIPOLI  (Xinhua) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday arrived in Libya's capital Tripoli in an unannounced visit to sponsor the political dialogue between the warring factions in the country.

The meeting was attended by 12 lawmakers from Libya's parliament House of Representatives and 13 political figures.

After the meeting, Ban attended a press conference and appealed to all armed groups to immediately cease fire, saying that a military solution will not be sustainable.

"Over the past years, we have provided all international efforts to help Libya's democratic transition of power. We have tried to achieve stability, but unfortunately did not reach to peace yet. Therefore, we are here to send a strong message to all parties that there is no alternative to dialogue to resolve the political crisis," Ban said.

He added that "Libya needs one strong parliament and one strong government that represent all national parties. Everyone must respect the legitimacy and not surpass it."

Libya has witnessed growing waves of violence since the 2011 turmoil that toppled the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Over the past few months, violence flared up in different cities in Libya since the Islamist militants has mounted deadly attacks on pro-secular militias as well as national army.