ROME -- Italy, Germany and the United States pushed Monday for a cease-fire and deescalation of tensions in Libya after a warning by Egypt that it would intervene militarily if Turkish-backed forces attack the strategic city of Sirte.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, said after talks in Rome that a cease-fire is urgent given the Egyptian threat. Di Maio also called for the quick naming of a new U.N. envoy and the strong enforcement of a U.N. arms embargo on Libya.
"If we stop the arrival of weapons, or strongly reduce them, we will be able to reduce the aggressiveness of the Libyan parties in this conflict," Di Maio said.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned over the weekend that any attack on Sirte or the inland Jufra air base by Turkish-backed forces loyal to the U.N.-supported but weak government in Tripoli would amount to crossing a "red line."
He said Egypt could intervene militarily with the intention of protecting its western border with the oil-rich country, and of bringing stability -- including establishing conditions for a cease-fire.
The Tripoli-based government said it considered el-Sissi's comments a "declaration of war," while authorities in the east welcomed his support.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that the world body's search for a new U.N. envoy to Libya ran aground when the Trump administration blocked two of the secretary general's nominations, saying it wants one senior official solely tasked with negotiating a cease-fire and another running the U.N. mission.
Acting U.N. envoy Stephanie Williams continues to shuttle between the warring sides and their foreign backers, he said, urging a deescalation and resumption of the U.N.-facilitated political process.
"The last thing that Libya needs right now is more fighting, more military mobilization, more transfer of weapons, more presence of either foreign fighters or mercenaries on its soil," Dujarric said, responding to Egypt's threats of military intervention.
U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of Africa Command, and U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland met Monday with Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj in the Libyan capital, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy.
It said the American officials stressed the "need for military pause and return to negotiations."
"All sides need to return to U.N.-led ceasefire and political negotiations because this tragic conflict is robbing all Libyans of their future," Townsend said.
Norland called for foreign countries supporting Libya's rivals to stop "fueling the conflict, respect the U.N. arms embargo, and uphold commitments made at the Berlin Summit" earlier this year.
Information for this article was contributed by Samy Magdy, David Rising, Edith M. Lederer and Jamey Keaten of The Associated Press.