The West-led air strikes against Libya, which started on Saturday, may trigger further escalation of the armed conflict and humanitarian disasters. Stabilizing the situation is now a test of the international community's crisis management capability and wisdom.

Despite the precision of their weapons, the coalition, led by the United States, France and Britain, can never guarantee that their bombs and missiles will not kill civilians.

Past experience shows that civilians are always the main victims in any foreign military intervention against a sovereign state.

The United Nation's Security Council did mandate member states to implement a no-fly zone in Libya under its resolution 1973, which was passed on March 17. However, it also stressed the need to protect civilian lives.

The coalition should continually bear this in mind and carry out the spirit of the UN mandate in full. They should not act in disregard of human life.

The military action against Libya has drawn growing concern from the international community. On Sunday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa criticized the multinational bombardment of Libya, saying it differs from the goal of imposing a no-fly zone.

History proves that resorting to force is not necessarily an effective way to solve a crisis. While military intervention may cause regime change in a country, it often opens the door to ensuing confrontations and new conflicts.

Stability will not return to a country that falls victim to military intervention any time soon. Instead, the entire region will very likely plunge deeper into a new round of turbulence.

The West-led military strikes against Libya constitute the third military action by outside countries against a sovereign state in the first years of this century. The bombing coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Iraq war, which caused untold suffering and despair to tens of millions of Iraqis.

Every time countries wield force to solve a crisis it constitutes an infringement of the United Nations Charter and the norms guarding international relations. It is also a deviation from the trend of our times, which increasingly opts for peace and development rather than conflict and confrontation.

At a time when some in the international community have yet to shake themselves free of the shackles of Cold War thinking, the world is justified in being gravely concerned about the impact of the ongoing military action in Libya.

It will take swift, effective action, as well as devotion and strong political will, to solve the crisis in Libya through peaceful means. It is good to see international meditation on the issue of Libya continues. Peaceful means should never be ignored in any circumstances.

This is the responsible approach to the Libyan people and the world at large.