The United Nations has postponed next week’s national reconciliation summit on Libya, throwing into confusion the Donald Trump administration’s hopes of reunifying the war-torn nation at the ballot box as erstwhile US ally Khalifa Hifter marches toward the capital.

UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame declared today that the world body “cannot ask people to take part in the conference during gunfire and airstrikes.” With the US-backed UN process in disarray, former US officials tell Al-Monitor the United States is becoming more open to Hifter commanding a unified Libyan military as a means of stopping his offensive, which has already left 47 dead according to the UN.

“The US doesn’t want Hifter to continue with this campaign,” a former US official told Al-Monitor. “I think they’d like to see him in a powerful position within the security apparatus of a unified Libyan state, but they want him to be incorporated into the state via a political solution to the conflict.”

On Sunday, the Pentagon removed a small detachment of US troops from Tripoli amid concerns over their safety, but the United States retains a presence in the eastern city of Misrata to combat the Islamic State. Just hours later, Hifter’s forces carried out an airstrike on Tripoli’s last functioning airport.