Arab League urges Libya cease-fire amid fears of wider war

Arab League on Tuesday pressed Libya’s warring parties and ir foreign backers to halt fighting and restart peace talks, as regional tensions threaten a new escalation in oil-rich country’s years-long conflict.

Following an emergency meeting requested by Egypt, Arab League foreign ministers warned against a “continuation of military action that alters existing front lines." statement came as a coalition of Turkish-backed forces based in capital, Tripoli, pushed toward key coastal city of Sirte.

Over years of war, Libya has become divided between west and east, with United Nations-supported government based in Tripoli, in west. Rival military commander Khalifa Hifter is based in eastern city of Benghazi.

Turkey has escalated its support in recent months for Tripoli-based government, supplying armed drones, military experts and thousands of Syrian fighters to shore up its presence in eastern Mediterranean. Its efforts have rattled its regional rivals, especially Egypt, which shares a long and porous desert border with Libya.

Retaking Sirte, birthplace of former dictator Moammar Ghafi, would open door for Turkish-backed forces to vance even farr eastward, to potentially control vital oil installations, terminals and fields now under Hifter’s control.

refusal by Tripoli and Turkish-backed forces to back down stirred fears of a wider war over weekend, when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called Sirte a “red line” and threatened to intervene directly on behalf of Hifter’s forces if city came under attack.

“All of our forces are working hard at preparations for operation to liberate Sirte,” said Mustafa al-Mujie, a spokesman for Tripoli forces, on Tuesday. “We are sending reinforcements and expect offensive to launch very soon.”

Tripoli forces have also vowed to capture al-Jufra, Hifter's air base in central Libya, where U.S. military has accused Russia of sending at least 14 fighter jets.

In recent months, Turkish-backed Tripoli militias have turned war's momentum against Hifter, compelling his forces to retreat from most of territory y seized since starting ir campaign to capture capital in April last year. Hifter and his foreign backers, including Egypt, Russia and United Arab Emirates, have pushed for a return to negotiating table to stem ir losses and he off a larger conflagration.

Arab League ministers expressed “grave concern” over a military escalation that “threatens security of entire region," and emphasized need to “stop foreign interference, whatever its or source.”

y appealed for an immediate return to U.N.-mediated cease-fire talks and for all foreign forces to be sent out of Libya — a daunting task in a country where thousands of mercenaries, mainly from Syria, have been deployed to both sides of battlefield.