Italy's Renzi sees tackling insurgents in Libya as "absolute priority"

Visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Thursday stressed the urgent need to step up international efforts to battle the Islamic State (IS) in Libya where chaos and a political vacuum helped the terrorist cell advance.

After meeting French President Francois Hollande, Renzi said "it will be fundamental for everyone to give absolute priority to the Libya issue, which risks becoming the next emergency."

"We're focusing our attention on the Vienna process for Syria. And we are particularly committed to opening this diplomatic window a little further to include Libya," he added.

In a joint press meeting with the Italian premier, Hollande noted that a diplomatic offensive to achieve peaceful solutions to end the crises in Syria, Iraq and Libya was also necessary alongside military operations.

"We must put in place (in Libya) now what we've waited a long time for, which is a government of national unity, and to secure the country to prevent Daesh (IS) from settling there and advancing," the French leader said.

As for Syria, Hollande stressed that Vienna peace talks "must be conducted to the end" in order to come out with "a political transition and elections which will necessarily lead to (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad's leave."

This week, Hollande started marathon meetings with major countries' leaders to seek wider support to forge a strong international coalition against IS, which claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.

"This series of meetings is needed to draw all the lessons from what happened in Paris, of this horrible tragedy, and to make advances (to fight terrorism)," he told reporters.

"Nothing would be worse for the international community, which is facing the threat of Daesh everywhere in the region and beyond, than to not make the decisions that are expected of it," he added. Endit