‘Military deadlock’: UN envoy warns of ‘widening conflagration’ in Libya

The UN’s Libya envoy warned Thursday of “a widening conflagration” in the North African country. Ghassan Salame also said that international divisions had encouraged strongman Khalifa Haftar to launch his assault on Tripoli. For now, there is a “deadlock” in fighting south of the capital between Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), the envoy told AFP. “After the very first successes of the Libyan National Army two weeks ago, we are witnessing a military deadlock,” he said. Fighting broke out on April 4 when Haftar and his LNA, based in the country’s east, launched an offensive to take Tripoli, the western seat of the GNA. The UN has postponed a national conference that was to draw up a roadmap to elections.