UPDATE 3-Eastern Libya forces move west, triggering alert in Tripoli

Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar have moved forces towards western Libya in a possible mission to "liberate the homeland from "terrorism", officials said on Wednesday, suggesting Tripoli was the intended destination. The deployment and rhetoric alarmed the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, whose Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has been negotiating over a power-sharing deal with a parallel administration in the east that is allied to Haftar.

The Tripoli government, which relies on a patchword of armed groups with often changing loyalties, issued a general alert for its forces in response to the eastern comments. The announcements coincided with the arrival in Tripoli of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres who is on a regional tour seeking to help avoid a confrontation between the rival Libyan camps.

Guterres plans to help prepare a national conference in two weeks to stabilize the oil producing country, in conflict since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, a U.N. spokesman said. Haftar has turned into major player in the North African country, enjoying the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates which see him as bulwark against Islamists. His opponents see in him a new Gaddafi.

Some of Haftar'S supporters have called the U.N. efforts a waste of time, urging him to carry out a military solution to establish himself as national army commander. Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA) force controlling eastern and southern Libya, did not say directly whether his force would move on Tripoli.

But he said the LNA was gathering forces for a possible mission "to liberate the homeland from terrorism." "We expect the women of Tripoli to welcome the Libyan army like the women of Benghazi and Derna did," he said, referring to two eastern cities which the LNA took by force.

OILFIELDS He also called on young people in Tripoli to focus on the battle between LNA and Daesh, or Islamic State, in another hint that military action might be looming.

In January, the LNA, which is loyal to Haftar, started a campaign to take control of the south and its oilfields with a similar rhetoric. A video released by the LNA media office showed a convoy of armoured vehicles and pickup trucks mounted with heavy guns on the road.

"In fulfilment of his (Haftar) orders, several military units moved to the western region to purge the remaining terrorist groups located in their last hideouts," the LNA said in a statement with the video. It gave no details but the area appears to be the coastal road linking the eastern city of Benghazi, the LNA main base, with Tripoli.

A resident in Ras Lanuf, an oil town located on the coastal road, said tanks and military convoys were seen heading westwards in the direction of Sirte. Sirte is in central Libya controlled by a force from the western city of Mistrata allied to the Tripoli administration.

Misrata, a port east of Tripoli, is home to powerful armed groups, which could match at least partly the firepower of LNA ground troops, analysts say. Haftar's forces enjoy air superiority and control the country's oilfields and most oil export ports. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed ElumamiWriting by Ulf Laessing Ahmed Elumami, Editing by William Maclean)