Sanya, April 14 (IANS) Leaders from the five BRICS countries meeting in a summit here have expressed their deep concern at the turbulences in the Middle East-North Africa region and said that force should be avoided in resolving these.

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa attending the BRICS summit in this Chinese coastal resort city have in a joint declaration issued Thursday hoped for peace and stability in the region and sought resolution of the Libyan situation through dialogue.

"We are deeply concerned with the turbulence in the Middle East, the North African and West African regions and sincerely wish that the countries affected achieve peace, stability, prosperity and progress and enjoy their due standing and dignity in the world according to legitimate aspirations of their peoples," reads the Sanya Declaration.

"We share the principle that the use of force should be avoided," Xinhua quoted the declaration as saying.

The five countries, which coincidentally are now members of the UN Security Council, vowed their continuous cooperation in the council on the issue of Libya and urged parties concerned to resolve their differences through peaceful means and dialogue, according to the document.

They expressed their support for the African Union High-Level Panel Initiative on Libya, saying the UN and regional organisations should play their role appropriately.

The five countries also reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, to make it "more effective, efficient and representative" in order to better deal with current global challenges, according to the declaration.

Thursday's summit was chaired by Chinese President Hu Jintao and attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma.