PARIS: The new UN special envoy to Libya plans to visit Tripoli as early as next week to seek a cease-fire between armed factions whose clashes have turned parts of the capital into a battlefield, his office said.

Bernardino Leon aims to end fighting between brigades from Misrata and fighters allied to the western town of Zintan, whose rivalries erupted a month ago into the worst clashes since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Qaddafi.

The battles, which involve brigades of former rebels who once fought Qaddafi together, have forced the United Nations and Western governments to evacuate their diplomats, fearing Libya is sliding into civil war.

A statement by his office said Leon’s Tripoli visit for talks would be conducted with the United Nations as the only international mediator accepted by all Libyan parties.

“It is in this framework (that) I am planning to travel to Tripoli as early as next week to continue to support the talks between the parties,” it said.

Most of the fighting has raged over the international airport in Tripoli, which fighters from Zintan have controlled since sweeping into the capital during the 2011 war.

Misrata and Zintan forces have exchanged barrages of Grad rockets, artillery fire and mortars across southern Tripoli, forcing hundreds of families from their homes and killing more than 200 people.

Libya’s fragile government still has no national army and often put former rebels on the state payroll as semi-official security forces as a way to coopt them into the new state.

But the heavily armed rival brigades are allied with competing political factions and are often more loyal to their region, city or local commanders than the Libyan central government.

“In my personal opinion, there are some urgent matters and a principle that should be agreed. The principle is that this should be a real cease-fire where ... I expect both sides to (both) talk in good faith and not to use it for military regroupment purposes,” Leon said.