CAIRO, Feb 18 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri called for lifting an arms embargo enforced on Libya during an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

Shukri's calls were reiterated by Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Dairi. He told the council on Wednesday that despite the dialogue headed by the UN special envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon, the situation in Libya "makes the need for arming Libyan army more pressing than any past time."

An arms embargo on the sale of weapons to the Libyan government has been in place since 2011.

The calls to lift the embargo come at a time of unprecedented violence in Libya, in which conflicting parties are attempting to control the country.

Libyan capital Tripoli has fallen under the control of the Fajr Libya or Libya Dawn Islamist militia in August 2014.

Meanwhile, Egypt and the international community only recognise authorities based in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.  

The Security Council meeting was called for by Libya and Egypt and comes after Egypt launched airstrikes in its neighbouring country on Monday, in coordination with the Libyan air force. 

The strikes, which Egypt says hit militant targets, came after beheading of 20 Coptic Egyptians inside Libya at the hands of militants believed to belong to the Libyan division of the Islamic State fighters.

Shukri stressed his country is also calling for ensuring that arms flowing into Libya do not fall into the hands of "illegitimate" groups.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry also urged the international community to allow states that wish to support the Libyan government to do so, so long that such support occurs in coordination with the Libyan authorities.

The United States said it respects "the right of countries to make their own decisions about their own self-defence and defence of their own country," in a comment on the Egyptian airstrikes. 

The internationally-recongnised Libyan government called on Egypt to "continue its military airstrikes against extremist and terrorist hotbeds in Libya after coordinating with the Libyan leadership" in a statement issued late Tuesday. Dairi echoed the statement during his address to the Security Council.

Shukri stressed his country supports Leon's efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Libya. 
"I assure that though a political solution is necessary, it will not substitute [the need] to militarily face terrorism," Shukri said. 

Shortly before the convention, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a draft resolution with the purpose of supporting the Libyan government in its fight against "terrorism" will be put forward to the council by the Arab bloc.

The ministry also said there is "no contradiction" between backing a political solution and empowering the "Libyan government" by lifting the ban on arms sales.