Berlin, Jan 20 (IANS): German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that all participants in the Libya Conference in Berlin have agreed to respect the arms embargo in the war-torn north African country.

"We had very serious negotiations here," Xinhua news agency quoted Merkel as saying to journalists after the conference on Sunday.

"This conference made an important contribution to driving peace efforts forward."

"All participants agreed that 'we need a political solution'," said Merkel. "In the past few days, it had become clear once again that military intervention was by no means a solution. All participants worked very constructively together."

"We can say that everyone agrees that we want to respect the arms embargo," said Merkel, adding that all participants know that today they could not solve all the problems in Libya, but that this is a first step.

"I believe that today the spirit has been created that we can move forward on the path. We have agreed a very binding process of how we feel closely and at short intervals to be responsible for the further process to adhere to the ceasefire," added Merkel.