France and Italy will work on "initiatives" for Libya as there is no military solution to the crisis, the countries' foreign ministers said on Friday. The pledge came as the attempted offensive by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on Tripoli has thrown into sharp relief the divisions between world powers over how to end the chaos that has riven Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qadhafi.

"There is no military solution to solve the complex political issues in Libya," Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told reporters after a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian. "The crisis could become dangerous... (because) the elements of a deterioration are there," Le Drian warned. France and Italy, Libya's former colonial power, are therefore working closely on the issue because "there can be no progress in Libya without a solid Franco-Italian agreement", he said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019