G7 cannot accept military escalation in Libya, says Germany
Germany Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven nations agreed on Saturday to put pressure on those responsible for a violent power struggle in Libya, especially commander Khalifa Haftar, to avoid a military escalation, Germany's Heiko Maas said.
"We are very agreed that further military escalation does not happen," he told reporters.
Each country would use its own channels, said Maas, adding that Italy and France had direct contacts with Libya.
Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Friday its forces had advanced into the capital's southern outskirts and taken its former international airport.
Developments in Libya intruded on an annual meeting bringing together the top diplomats from Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and the United States, who had been negotiating on norms to tackle cyber interference in democracies and sexual violence in Africa.