Libyan Higher Council of State urges all fighting parties to calm down

TRIPOLI, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Higher Council of State on Wednesday called on all fighting parties to calm down and avoid military escalation.

"In view of the exceptional emergency situation in the country, the council continued its consultative meetings to discuss the serious developments in Tripoli," the council said in a statement.

"We have renewed our commitment to reject the use of violence and force to settle political or personal rivalries," it said.

"We call on all sides to calm down and avoid military escalation, remove the causes of tension, and open routes of dialogue to defuse tension and spare the capital and its facilities of war and destruction," the statement added.

The council also called upon the Government of National Accord to "rise to the level of the events, meet its responsibilities, and deal with this security crisis with determination and wisdom, so as to ensure the end of tension and address its causes."

Security services continue to close Tripoli's M'etiga international airport since Monday, following a heavy armed attack by an armed group that killed 21 people and injured 69 others, including civilians.

The UN-backed government issued a statement condemning the attack, "which threatened the lives of travelers, nearby residents and the safety of air traffic."

"This attack aimed at freeing IS, al-Qaida and other terrorists from the detention center supervised by the Interior Ministry's Special Deterrence Force," said the statement. Enditem