United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the press on the situation in Libya at the UN headquarters in New York, April 10, 2019. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for a full stop of the hostilities around the Libyan capital of Tripoli. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for a full stop of the hostilities around the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

At a press encounter after briefing the Security Council on Libya, Guterres said he hopes it is still time for a ceasefire to take place and to avoid a bloody battle for the city.

"We need to restart a serious political dialogue and a serious political negotiation, but it is obvious that that cannot take place without fully stop of the hostilities," he said.

Last week, the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, launched a military campaign to take over Tripoli.

A recent airstrike at the airport outside of Tripoli, claimed by LNA, shut down the capital's only functioning airport, which only resumed night operation on Tuesday.

At Tuesday's press encounter, the UN chief also expressed worry about the migrants and refugees caught in the military escalation.

While the UN refugee agency has evacuated one of the detention camps, he said, there are "terrible concerns" over the migrants, refugees and foreigners in Tripoli.

Moreover, he expressed his "enormous admiration" for the work of his special representative for Libya Ghassan Salame, pledging "using our good offices, we will do everything to support his efforts."