Eastern Libyan forces say they've taken control of Tripoli airport and are advancing on capital

The United Nations SecurityCouncil expressed concern on Friday about military activity nearLibya's capital Tripoli, warning that it threatens the country's stability, and called on Libyan National Army (LNA) troopscommanded by Khalifa Haftar to halt all military movements.

"They (the council) called on LNA forces to halt allmilitary movements," said German UNAmbassador ChristophHeusgen, president of the council for April, reading a statementagreed by the body after it was briefed behind closed doors onthe latest developments.

"They also called on all forces to de-escalate and haltmilitary activity. There can be no military solution to theconflict," he said.

The moves by Haftar's army, theLNA,which is allied to a parallel administration based in the east,escalated a power struggle that has splintered the nation sincethe overthrow of Moammar Gadhafiin 2011.

The development comes as UNSecretary-GeneralAntnioGuterressaid Friday he was "deeply concerned" after meetingHaftar in Libyato try toavert a renewed civil war as forces advanced on Tripoli.

Haftar, 75, who casts himself as an opponent of Islamistextremism but is viewed by opponents as a new Gadhafi, wasquoted by Al Arabiya TV as telling Guterres the operation wouldcontinue until terrorism was defeated. The LNAsaid in the evening ithad taken control of Tripoli's airport.

The coastal capital of Tripoli is the ultimate prize forHaftar.

In 2014, he assembled former Gadhafi soldiers and, in athree-year battle, seized the main eastern city of Benghazi. This year, he took the south with its oilfields.

Hopes to avoid 'bloody confrontation'

"I leave Libya with a heavy heart and deeply concerned," Guterres said on Twitter.

The escalation surprised the UN. Guterres hadbeen in the capital this week to help organize a nationalreconciliation conference planned for later this month.

But on Thursday,LNA forces took Gharyan, about 80 kilometressouth of Tripoli, after skirmishes with forces allied toTripoli-based, UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

They moved further north, coming as close as 40 kilometres to Tripoliby taking the village of Suq al Khamis after some fighting, aresident and an eastern military source said.

In the evening, the LNA said they had taken control of theareas of Qasr bin Ghashir and Wadi al-Rabie on the southern outskirts of Tripoli, near the airport, closed since a city battle in 2014.

It could not be independently confirmed, but a video postedonline purportedly showed LNA fighters inside Qasr bin Ghashir.

However, the Tripoli interior minister, Fathi Bashagha,later told AlAhrar TV his forces had retaken the old airport, whilethere were clashes in the Qasr bin Ghashir area. Major ministries are still 20 kilometresaway.

Oil producer

In an attemptto close the coastal road to Tunisia, Haftar's forces failedto take a checkpoint about 30 kilometres westof the capital. AnLNA-allied armed group withdrew overnight from so-called Gate27, leaving it abandoned in the morning, a Reuters reportersaid.

In another setback, forces allied to Tripoli took 145 LNAfighters prisoner in Zawiya, west of Tripoli, a westerncommander, Mohamed Alhudair, told Reuters. An LNA sourceconfirmed 128 had been captured.Sixty vehicles had also been seized, Alhudairsaid.

Meanwhile, armed groups allied to the UN-backed Tripoligovernment moved more pickups mounted with machine-guns from the coastal city of Misrata to Tripoli to defend it against Haftar'sforces.

Guterres, who spent Thursday night in the heavily fortifiedUNcompound in a Tripoli suburb, flew to Benghazi and drove toHaftar's base, witnesses said.

He earlier went to Tobruk, another eastern city, to meetAguila Saleh, president of the House of Representatives, which is also allied to Haftar.

"My aim remains the same: avoid a military confrontation,"Guterres earlier said on Twitter.

The offensive is a setback for the United Nations andWestern countries trying to mediate between Sarraj and Haftar, who met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal.

The conference the United Nations wants to organize is meant to forgeagreement on a roadmap for elections to resolve theprolonged instability in Libya, an oil producer and transitpoint for refugees and migrants trekking across the Sahara in an attempt to reach Europe.

Emergency meeting called

Haftar enjoys the backing of Egypt and the United ArabEmirates, which see him as a bulwark against Islamists, and which havesupported him militarily, according to UN reports.

We need to throw water on the fire, not petrol on the fire.- Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini

The UAE, however, joined Western countries in expressing itsdeep concern about the fighting.

Germany called an emergency meeting of the UN SecurityCouncil due to the military escalation.

Russia said it was not helping Haftar's forces and that itsupported a negotiated political settlement that ruled out anynew bloodshed.

Tunisia has tightened control overits border with Libya inresponse to the renewed conflict, the defence ministry said.

Former colonial power Italy, which lies across theMediterranean from Libya and has been a destination for migrantsfleeing the chaos at home, was very worried by the turn ofevents, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said.

"We need to throw water on the fire, not petrol on the fire.I hope that people, acting out of economic or businessself-interest, are not looking for a military solution, whichwould be devastating," Salvini said.