Italy closes Libyan embassy,seeks UN mission to help restore peace

ROME: Italy closed its embassy in Libya on Sunday due to the worsening conflict there and stepped up its call for a UN mission to help calm the situation.
Libya is unravelling as a state with two rival governments operating their own armed forces under separate parliaments, nearly four years after the civil war that led to the overthrow and death of leader Moamer Qadhafi.
“The deteriorating situation in Libya made it necessary to close (the embassy),” Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in a statement. Embassy staff have been sent back to Italy by boat, the ministry said.
Intensifying violence in Libya, where Islamic State is also active, is particularly alarming to Italy because the two countries are separated only by a relatively narrow stretch of sea. Many migrants attempt the crossing from North Africa to Italy in unsafe boats.