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Obama, Italy's Renzi say military strikes not answer to Libya


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday urged a political solution to the conflict in Libya, saying foreign military operations were unlikely to solve the crisis there.

    "Libya is obviously an area of great concern," Obama said. He earlier said he and Renzi did not discuss possible drone strikes during their meeting at the White House.

    "We will not be able to solve the problem with just a few drone strikes or a few military operations," he said at a joint news conference with Renzi after their talk.

    "We will combine counterterrorism efforts in cooperation with Italy and other like-minded nations with a political effort," Obama said.

    Renzi said separately that peace in Libya must be achieved internally among the parties there.

    (Reporting by Susan Heavey)