Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has called for Libya's factions to end their civil war after yet another deadline passed without a ceasefire and fighting raged on across the country. At a meeting in New York originally planned to celebrate the signing of a UN-brokered peace deal, Ban appealed to the country's rival governments to come together. "No agreement is perfect, but this document will help Libya move beyond the chaos," he said. But the failure of Libyans to agree to the power-sharing plan has left a question mark over whether diplomacy can end a war that has plunged the country into chaos and made it a springboard for people smugglers and Islamic State (Isis). Ban insisted there was no alternative to dialogue, giving Libya's two governments a fourth deadline to agree the plan by 20 October. But the rival governments, facing off from different ends of the country, have signalled their refusal to sign. Khalifa al-Ghwell, the prime minister of the Tripoli-based General National Congress, declared the plan to be "inconsistent with the highest principles of the nation". Meanwhile, Agila Saleh Gwaider, president of the elected and internationally recognised House of Representatives based in the eastern city of Tobruk, said no deal could be done while his rival held the capital by force. The ceasefire refusal came amid the heaviest fighting in several months, a reminder that it is the warlords – not invited to the UN talks – rather than the politicians who call the shots. Forces of the Tobruk parliament, led by its maverick commander, General Khalifa Haftar, have launched an unprecedented bombardment of Benghazi districts held by Islamist rebels. In Tripoli, fighters from the GNC's militia force, Libya Dawn, have turned on each other in several nights of skirmishing, even as pro-Tobruk forces battle Libya Dawn for control of the coastal highway west of the city. Diplomats insist there can be no more negotiations on the content of a peace deal, with UN special representative Bernardino León, a Spanish diplomat, last month declaring: "Our part of the process is now finished. Now it is up to the parties." León has come in for criticism from some quarters for issuing over-optimistic forecasts that peace was at hand. In March, he announced talks had reached the "decisive moment"; in April, he promised a deal by the end of the month; and in June, he declared the opening of the "final round of talks". Yet the war has ground on. "León does not have credibility. How many times has he been saying ‘this is the final draft'?" said Libyan journalist Ashraf Abdul-Wahab. "Maybe today there will be a signed piece of paper, but the piece of paper is not going to make that peace." The reality is that Libya's war may be beyond the powers of mediation, with the GNC insisting on sharing power and the elected parliament determined to control the whole country. The UN has refused to make its final plan public, but a copy seen by the Guardian details a complicated governance structure designed to give both parliaments vetoes over decisions by a proposed unity government. Supporters say the plan gives both sides a share of the power, while critics complain it invites gridlock in a country so polarised that consensus is all but impossible. Western powers fear that without a deal Libya's twin problems of people smuggling and the growth of Isis will get worse. Thousands of migrants continue to be dispatched from Libyan shores for Europe, while Isis this week attacked Es Sider, the country's largest oil port. Diplomats are concerned that a third crisis is imminent, with the collapsing economy heralding a humanitarian disaster. "Libya desperately needs a government of national accord," Britain's new ambassador to Libya, Peter Millett, wrote in a blog on Friday. "Their country is facing bankruptcy." Foreign powers are now contemplating limited military action, with the EU assembling naval assets in the Mediterranean to start operations against Libyan people smugglers next week. Italy has offered peacekeepers, but military sources say peacekeeping cannot work when there is no peace to keep. With western air forces already committed in Syria and Iraq against Isis, there is no appetite in western capitals for full-blown military intervention. Meanwhile, the UN begins fresh meetings next week to get Libyans to agree the plan by the new deadline, with many skeptical it will produce results. "The EU and UN are just going to keep banging on the political process drum, they believe as long as the political process is in play, it precludes military intervention," said Geoff Porter, director of North Africa Risk Consultancy. "That's not to throw the UN under the bus – it's extraordinarily difficult to cut a [peace] deal."
