Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has urged EPP leaders to act on Libya before it is too late.

Dr Busuttil made the appeal in light of reports that the terrorist organisation IS had taken a second town in Libya. Following Derna, there are reports IS has now taken over the small desert town of Nawfaliya.

“IS in Libya means IS at our doorstep”, Dr Busuttil told a meeting of EPP party leaders held in Brussels in preparation of an EU summit. “Let us act now before it is too late.”

Libya is caught in a struggle between an internationally-recognised government and a rival administration set up in Tripoli after an armed faction seized the capital last summer. Both are backed by brigades of fighters who helped oust veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but have since turned against one another in a complex conflict involving tribes, former Gaddafi troops, Islamist militants and federalist forces.

We should not allow this neighbouring country to end up in the hold of this terrorist organisation

That “Libya is in a state of anarchy is well known”, Dr Busuttil said, however, “we should not allow this neighbouring country to end up in the hold of this terrorist organisation.” He urged the EPP to put into action the terrorism pact it adopted.

The UN is trying to engineer a deal for a unified government, a ceasefire and to get armed groups out of Libya’s main cities and key installations.

Libya’s two largest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, with a combined capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day, have been shut by fighting since December, cutting off vital oil revenues and denting the economy.