UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for support for his special envoy's diplomatic efforts to work out a political settlement and ceasefire in Libya, dpa reported.
"Finding a political solution to the crisis in Libya remains our top priority, and our efforts have intensified," Ban said in a message to the International Contact Group on Libya, which met in Istanbul.
Ban said Abdul Elah al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, is striving to get a political solution that would end the conflict in Libya.
"I appeal to the international community to support the special envoy and send a unified message to both parties urging them to engage in direct negotiations, through my 'good offices' to break the current impasse," he added.
Khatib has paid several visits to Tripoli and Benghazi, stronghold of the rebels. But he told the UN Security Council in New York on Monday that a political solution is still a "distant" possibility.