TRIPOLI, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday that there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis.
Conte made the remarks during a phone call with his Libyan UN-backed counterpart Fayez Serraj, according to a statement issued by the Libyan prime minister's information office.
The Italian prime minister "called for immediate stop to the aggression ... and announced that Italy will spare no effort to end the crisis and save Libyans' lives," the statement said.
Serraj "expressed gratitude for the Italian government's clear position to reject the aggression, stressing that the Libyan army forces will defend the capital and the Libyan people's choice to establish a civil state," it added.
The east-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since early April to take over the capital Tripoli from the government.
The fighting so far has killed more than 270, injured at least 1,300 others, and forced more than 13,000 to flee their homes.
Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
