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UNITED NATIONS A new U.N. report says Libya's ability to prevent the flow of weapons into and out of the chaotic country is "almost nonexistent," and it calls for the tightening of an arms embargo that the government says must be loosened so it can defend itself.

The report by a panel of experts also recommends the creation of a maritime monitoring force to help Libya's government prevent both the flow of weapons and the illegal export of the country's oil. The country has Africa's largest proven reserves of crude.

The international community is alarmed by the recent emergence of Islamic State group-affiliated fighters in the north African country, which is divided by two rival governments and multiple militias. But the United States and others worry that any weapons provided to the fragile Western-backed government, which is competing with an Islamist-backed rival, would quickly fall into the wrong hands.

Libya this month asked the U.N. Security Council to lift the arms embargo on the country, shortly after fighters linked to the Islamic State group beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in the group's deadliest attack so far outside Iraq and Syria.

Most permanent members of the council say they would rather see a unified government in Libya first, although U.N. efforts toward that goal have had little progress so far.

Libya already can apply for weapons imports under an exemption in the arms embargo for the Libyan government, but the U.N. committee that considers such requests has been cautious about giving approval. U.N. diplomats point to an incident in 2013 when weapons that were approved for the government ended up in militia hands instead.

Now the panel of experts says the arms embargo should be tightened so that committee approval would be needed not only for weapons and ammunition but for "non-lethal military equipment and the provision of security-related training."

The panel also recommends that the Security Council create a maritime monitoring force "to assist the government of Libya in securing its territorial waters" to prevent the flow of arms that would violate the embargo.

The monitoring force also would prevent the "illegal export of crude oil and its derivatives, and other natural resources." The new report says Libya's government has lost control over most of its oil installations.

The panel of experts monitors U.N. sanctions put in place since 2011, shortly before longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi was overthrown. Militia groups have filled a growing vacuum since then as the state fell apart.

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UN report calls for tightening of Libya arms embargo

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Libya asked the United Nations remove an arms embargo so it can combat Islamic State forces within its borders.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Dairi told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday the embargo, in place since the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi in 2011 to protect civilians from pro-Ghadafi forces, would "help us build our national army's capacity, and this would come through a lifting of the embargo on weapons so our army can receive materiel and weapons so as to deal with this rampant terrorism. If we fail to have arms provided to us, this can only play into the hands of extremists."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Samah Shoukry declared his country's support of the Libyan request at the Security Council meeting. Egypt conducted airstrikes on IS militants in Libya earlier in the week in response to the deaths of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.

Western diplomats remain concerned that arms shipments could be taken by militia groups in Libya, a country already overstocked with weapons. Libya has two competing governments, the one headquartered in Tobruk is the government currently recognized by the United Nations, and the country's three major cities -- Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi -- are controlled by militias opposed to the Tobruk leadership.

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Libya seeks release from U.N. arms embargo

When Libya appeared on the edge of a humanitarian disaster during its 2011 civil war, President Obama and other Western leaders sent in the cavalry: NATO warplanes with orders to protect civilians from slaughter by the country's longtime leader, Moammar Kadafi.

But though worsening violence this week brought new calls for foreign intervention, world powers are unlikely to fly to the rescue again. In the view of U.S. officials and allies in Europe and the Middle East, an outside force would be costly, hard to organize and deploy, and could deepen Libya's divisions.

The chance of a new intervention "is pretty remote," said Frederic Wehrey, a Middle East analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

It's far more likely, say diplomats and analysts, that the United States and other world powers will continue their long, so far unsuccessful, search for a diplomatic solution to the country's post-Kadafi civil war, possibly backed by economic sanctions to enhance leverage.

U.S. officials are closely monitoring the growing influence of Islamic State in Libya and could decide to use counter-terrorism tools, such as drone strikes and special forces, as they have done in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere.

But "no decisions have been made to expand the fight against [Islamic State] beyond Iraq and Syria," Rear Adm. John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said Wednesday.

Libya, Egypt, Italy and France all called for some kind of foreign intervention after Islamic State released a video Sunday that purports to show masked militants beheading 21 Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach.

Advocates say an outside force is needed to halt Islamic State from expanding in Libya. Some also argue that foreign intervention can provide enough security to allow government institutions to take root amid the chaos.

Arab leaders on Wednesday called on the U.N. Security Council to lift weapons sanctions against Libya to help its army fight Islamic State and warned that the beheadings of the Egyptian Christians threatened to expand Libya's civil war into a regional military conflict.

After Kadafi was overthrown, control of the North African nation devolved to a patchwork of militias loosely organized into two coalitions, each affiliated with a rival government.

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Despite Libya's worsening violence, Western intervention unlikely

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The state-owned National Oil Corp. posted a statement on its website declaring force majeure, saying it could no longer ensure production at the facilities due to the deteriorating security situation. The move frees the company of liability.

Two fields, Bahi and Mabruk, had been attacked last month and were seized again Monday and Tuesday by unknown militants. Gunmen at Mabruk claimed to represent the Islamic State militant group. A third field, Dahra, was attacked late Tuesday.

Col. Hakim Maazab, who commands oil guards in the region, said Wednesday the militants had withdrawn from Mabruk, after destroying oil tanks and a control room. IS militants elsewhere retreated from oilfields after setting them ablaze.

Libya has been embroiled in civil war since the 2011 uprising against dictator Moammar Gaddafi. Two rival governments -- the internationally recognized government and the rebel government Libya Dawn, which took over Tripoli last summer -- have been conducting airstrikes against each other as multiple rebel militias operate in the country.

Libya was producing around 1.2 million barrels of oil per day before NATO forces entered the country to protect civilians from attacks by Gaddafi loyalists. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the member state was producing around 343,000 bpd as of January, a 27 percent decline from December. National Oil Corp. reported recent production gains despite the attacks due to resuming operations at the Sarir field.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah K. Jones wrote in the the Libya Herald in February that the country may go broke if oil continues to get caught in the cross fire.

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Libya declares force majeure on 11 central oilfields

Egypt bombed Islamic State militants in neighboring Libya on Monday and called on the United States and Europe to join an international military intervention in the chaotic North African state after extremists beheaded a group of Egyptian Christians.

The airstrikes bring Egypt overtly into Libya's turmoil, a reflection of Cairo's increasing alarm. Egypt now faces threats on two fronts a growing stronghold of radicals on its western border and a militant insurgency of Islamic State allies on its eastern flank in the Sinai Peninsula as well as its own internal challenges.

Islamic State group weapons caches and training camps were targeted "to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution from the killers," a military statement said. "Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield to protect and safeguard the security of the country and a sword that cuts off terrorism."

The announcement on state radio represents Egypt's first public acknowledgement of military action in post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya, where there has been almost no government control.

Libya is where the Islamic State group has built up its strongest presence outside Syria and Iraq. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is lobbying Europe and the United States for a coordinated international response similar to the coalition air campaign in those countries.

"What is happening in Libya is a threat to international peace and security," said El-Sissi.

El-Sissi spoke with France's president and Italy's prime minister Monday about Libya, and sent his foreign minister, Sameh Shukri, to New York to consult at the United Nations ahead of a terrorism conference opening Wednesday in Washington.

The bombs were dropped by U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that left Egyptian bases for targets in the eastern Libyan city of Darna, according to Egyptian and Libyan security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk the press.

The strikes came hours after the Islamic State group issued a grisly video of the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians, mainly young men from impoverished families who were kidnapped after travelling to Libya for work. The video shows them being marched onto what is purported to be a Libyan beach before masked militants with knives carve off their heads.

Thirteen of the 21 came from Egypt's tiny Christian-majority village of el-Aour, where relatives wept in church and shouted the names of the dead on Monday.

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Egypt strikes Islamic State in Libya, pushes for international action