TRIPOLI, Libya, April 4 (UPI) -- Ethnic leaders in southern Libyan said they were working to create an autonomous state amid reports of renewed fighting in the region.
The European Union last week called on Tripoli to ensure parties to the conflict in the Sebha region of southern Libya lay down their weapons. Three days of clashes between rival tribal factions in late March left more than 70 people dead.
Abdel Majid Mansur, a leader from the southern Tibu ethnic group, said there were growing calls for autonomy.
"If necessary, we will demand international intervention and work toward the creation of a state," he was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying.
The interim government in Tripoli said this week it was concerned by fighting in the western coastal city of Zuwara. Ayoob Sufyan, a spokesman for the city government, told CNN the situation there was the worst violence since the height of the civil war last year.
"The situation is terrible," he said. "It is a real war now."
At least 26 people were reportedly killed in the western city Wednesday, al-Arabiya reports.
NATO forces last year enforced a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
