Russia demands violence in Libya stop

Russia condemns the violence in Libya and demands that it be stopped, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said at the 16th UN session in Geneva.

Libyan citizens have been protesting against Muammar al-Gaddafi, who has been in power for 42 years, since February 15. International organizations say that law-enforcers and foreign mercenaries have killed up to 2,000 people and injured approximately 4,000. Foreign states are evacuating their citizens.

The Russian minister said that the mass protests in the Middle East and North Africa have exposed problems with poverty, unemployment and poor fulfillment of socio-economic human rights.

Lavrov says that democratization and modernization are a common goal of international relations. It needs a joint search for solutions and strengthening of the law at a global level.