French President Francois Hollande is calling on the United Nations to provide "exceptional" support for Libya in order to help authorities restore order in a country that has been fractured by militias and political infighting.
Hollande said Thursday in Paris that inaction could lead to the spread of terrorism.
His remarks come a day after the U.N.'s special representative to Libya, Tarek Mitri, warned the Security Council that the situation in Libya "might unravel unto a full-blown civil war."
"The threat from the spread of terrorist groups has become real. Their presence and activities in a number of Libyan cities are known to all. At present, the chaotic security situation and the very limited capacity of the government to counter the threat may well have created a fertile ground for a mounting danger in Libya and beyond," said Mitri.
Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Numerous armed Islamist groups are violently jockeying for power, competing assemblies have elected rival prime ministers, and an interim central government is struggling to establish security.