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World leaders were gathered in Berlin yesterday to make a fresh push for peace in Libya, in a desperate bid to stop the conflict-wracked nation from disintegrating into a “second Syria”.

The presidents of Russia, Turkey and France were due for talks from around 14:00 (13:00 GMT) held under the auspices of the United Nations, which wants to get foreign powers wielding influence in the region to stop interfering in the war, through the provision of weapons, troops or financing.

Leaders of both warring factions – strongman Khalifa Haftar and the head of Tripoli’s UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj – are also expected at the first such gathering since 2018.

But hours ahead of the meet, pro-Haftar forces upped the ante by blocking oil exports at the war-ravaged country’s key ports, crippling the main source of income in a protest against Turkey’s decision to send troops to shore up Sarraj’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

The move underlined the devastating impact of what is described by the UN as foreign interference, which the United Nations’ special envoy Ghassan Salame said had to stop.

“All foreign interference can provide some aspirin effect in the short term, but Libya needs all foreign interference to stop. That’s one of the objectives of this conference,” he told AFP on the eve of the meeting.

The UN hopes all sides will sign up to a plan to refrain from interference, and commit to a truce that leads to a lasting end to hostilities, according to a draft of a final communique seen by AFP.

That document also urges all parties to re-commit to a much-violated UN arms embargo and raises the prospect of political, inter-Libyan talks in Geneva at the end of the month. If all goes to plan, the Berlin participants will hold an evening press conference.

Libya has been torn by fighting between rival armed factions since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi.-AFP.