Libya crisis: Greek oil tanker bombed as Hollande rules out French intervention

A Greek-owned oil tanker bearing a Liberian flag has been bombed by an unidentified military aircraft in the Libyan port of Derna, killing two crew members.

The Greek coastguard said the ARAEVO, owned by Athens-based Aegean Shipping Management, was carrying 12,600 tons of crude oil when it was targeted by the aircraft.

One of the two sailors that was killed in the attack had Greek nationality and was 29-years-old, according to Ekathimerini news site,

The attack came as French president Francois Hollande ruled out unilateral military intervention in Libya to put an end to an escalating political crisis in the North African country.

"We are acting to contain terrorism in the south, but France will not intervene in Libya because it's for the international community to live up to its responsibilities," Hollande told French radio.

Hollande said that France is not ready to go down the road of a UN-mandated operation but did not exclude the possibility of a "clear mandate" to solve political quarrels in Libya, should the political conditions be in place.

However, the president of neighbouring Niger said that a solution to the crisis in Libya was not possible without international intervention.

"I do not see how the armed terrorist militias can create the conditions for reconciliation among Libyans," said President Mahamadou Issoufou.

He said an international intervention is essential to the reconciliation of all Libyans, including supporters of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was deposed and killed in 2011 after an international military intervention.

Libya, which has been in turmoil since Gaddafi's ousting, has recently collapsed into a chaos of warring militias and rival governments. Among the key players in the civil war is general Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by the internationally recognised government and is fighting Islamist militias controlling large swathes of the country.

The Libyan government has been operating from the eastern city of Tobruk since Libya Dawn, an Islamist umbrella group allied with jihadi movement Ansar al-Sharia, seized the capital Tripoli and installed a rival administration last year.

Haftar's forces launched an attack to retake Tripoli last November, bombing the capital's only functioning airport, the Matiga air base. The general had urged the West to supply him with weapons or facing a "catastrophe" unravelling just off Europe's southern coast should his troops be defeated.

A new round of UN-brokered peace talks aimed at ending the Libyan crisis has been delayed once again, according to diplomatic sources.

Talks aimed at ending the escalating political crisis in Libya have been delayed once again and will not take place early this week as originally planned, according to diplomatic sources.

"Consultations to hold the second round of dialogue continue with the parties to reach agreement on the timing and venue. So, not tomorrow," one diplomatic source told Reuters.