The US is striving to find a common ground among warring factions in Libya to enable the North African country to continue its democratic process, whilst recognising the democratically-elected House of Representatives as legitimate, US Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones said this morning.

Ms Jones, who has been the US Ambassador to Libya since last year – her predecessor, John Christopher Stevens, was killed in the line of duty during an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 2012 – is presently based in Malta after the embassy in Tripoli was temporarily shut down.

In a press conference held at the US Ambassador to Malta’s residence in Attard this morning, Ms Jones said that the situation in Libya was akin to “trying to have a vegetable garden without a fence.”

She noted that in the absence of political dialogue, a reconciliation process, and rules governing negotiations, no progress would be registered as any step forward would be undermined by others.

Ms Jones said that all sides involved needed to recognise that democracy involved the acceptance of a system that required constant competition and a change in authority from time to time, and was not a “winner takes all” system.

Whilst the US recognised the Libyan House of Representatives, she emphasised that it did not necessarily agree with all of its decisions – including its labelling of the Misurata militias which have established a presence in Tripoli as terrorists.

The ambassador said that the House of Representatives “needs to be inclusive, and avoid the kind of language that is so starkly exclusionary that it rules out a majority of peaceful Libyans who may have a different approach.”

On the other hand, Ms Jones also noted that other sides needed to recognise that establishing a separate government and rejecting the will of the people was also unacceptable.