The Libyan Foreign Ministry on Tuesday lashed out the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) statement which has strongly deplored the military escalations in Benghazi City.

“The timing of airstrikes clearly aims at undermining the ongoing efforts to end the conflict,” the Mission said of Saturday's escalation.

The airstrikes are “a clear attempt to undermine and derail the ongoing efforts to end the conflict” at a time when the negotiations currently taking place in Skhirat, Morocco, have entered “a final and most critical stage,” said the Mission.

At the time Libya is praising the efforts of the UN Mission to Support Libya, the Libyan parliament and government are positively involved in the dialogue under the sponsorship of the UN based on maintaining the national principles, The Foreign Ministry statement said.

The statement also asserted that the Libya parliament are keen on choosing dialogue as a way to end the Libyan division and fulfilling the national obligations such as combating terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry statement also reiterated that war should not be a venue for bargaining in order to render a success to dialogue by any means as the price would be the lives of Libyans who have suffered and are still suffering from terrorism.

It pointed out that the UNSMIL statement did not hint at the spread of terrorism and actions of terrorists, added the statement, calling on the UN to give urgent explanation on the content of the statement and the circumstances of its issuance.

Source: MENA