Madrid Conference: Libya Could Become the New Syria

The Spanish foreign minister has said on Wednesday that Libya could become a failed state, similar to Syria unless something is done quickly.

The remarks came at an international conference focusing on Libya in Madrid attended by officials from 16 nations, the United Nations and the Arab League.

Libyan representatives are not attending the meeting which started on Wednesday.

Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo added that there is still time to prevent extremists from controlling the country.

The U.N. special representative for Libya Bernadino Leon said that an immediate cease-fire is necessary for the country to begin the peace process.

He said that the country was going through  "an unrelenting campaign of indiscriminate shelling…tens of thousands of civilians are now known to have fled their homes, many have also lost their lives as a result of the shelling."

Currently Libya has two rival governments, an elected one based in Tobruk, after having to move from Tripoli, and the previous Islamist-led parliament remains in Tripoli and is backed by the militias.

There have been recent reports of ongoing clashed between the Islamists and rival groups, with nine people dying in Benghazi.  

Militants are attempting to gain control of the airport from the hands of troops loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, the top commander of the Libyan army and staunch opponent of the Tripoli government.

"We are still controlling the airport," Saqer al-Jouroushi, Khalifa Haftar's air defence commander, said to Reuters.