BEIJING - China on Thursday called on the international community to approach the crisis in Libya through political means.

"We believe that the international community should continue to seek political means for resolving the crisis in Libya," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing on Thursday.

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Hong made the remarks when asked to comment on the first contact group meeting regarding Libya. The meeting, which took place in the Qatari capital of Doha on Wednesday, was held to discuss a political end to the crisis in the North African country.

The contact group was organized in London at an international ministerial conference in late March under the initiative of British Foreign Minister William Hague.

The meeting came nearly a month after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya and called for "all necessary measures," excluding troops on the ground, to protect civilians from attacks.

"China, as always, maintains that the future of Libya should be determined by the Libyan people," Hong said.

He said the efforts by all parties should help ease the current tensions in Libya.