Libya's government and armed forces on Friday moved to quash rumors of an impending coup after a retired general called for parliament and the government to be suspended.

In a video posted on the Internet, Khalifa Haftar announced an "initiative" under which the interim authorities would be suspended.

Human Rights Watch called on Libyan authorities Thursday to provide proper defense counsel to slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi's son and top aides to ensure they receive a fair trial.

The New York-based watchdog said that during visits by its staff last month, both Seif al-Islam Gadhafi and former spy chief Abdullah Senussi had complained that they had no representation at all during interrogations and pre-trial hearings in their prosecution for gross abuses during the 2011 uprising.

The Tripoli headquarters of Libya's Alassema privately owned television channel was attacked early Wednesday, with three powerful blasts heard, an Agence France Presse journalist said.

A source at the broadcaster said three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the building, and that a guard was lightly wounded.

Gunmen released a reporter for Libya's state media Tuesday, a day after abducting him in the capital in the latest attack on journalists in the North African country, his employer said.

Since the overthrow and killing of veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, the government has struggled to restore order and the media has come under mounting threat from former rebel militia.

The Washington Post posted a video on Monday purportedly showing U.S. commandos capturing a Libyan al-Qaida operative in Tripoli last year, yanking him out of his car before dawn.

In grainy black-and-white footage obtained by the Post, Anas al-Libi drives up in front of his walled house at 6:38 a.m. in the early morning darkness.

France on Monday ruled out Western military action against Islamist fighters in southern Libya for the time being, rebuffing an appeal for intervention from neighboring Niger.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, asked about Niger's call for action, said there was no question of putting foreign troops into a region that the United States has identified as an increasingly worrisome new haven for al-Qaida-linked militants.

Two Italian construction workers kidnapped in Libya last month have been released and returned to Italy on Friday thanks to joint work by the Italian government and the Libyan army and secret services, officials said.

"I feel great joy and satisfaction over the release of Francesco Scalise and Luciano Gallo," Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino was quoted saying in a statement.

Security forces braced for protests Friday against Libya's protracted political transition following the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with fears of more violence after an overnight attack on army headquarters.

Tensions have risen after a decision by Libya's highest political authority, the General National Congress, to extend its interim mandate.

Gunmen attacked the Benghazi studios of two privately run television channels overnight, journalists and security officials said Thursday, as violence in Libya's second city showed no let-up.

The attacks were the latest in a spate of assaults by suspected former-rebel militia on the independent media which have proliferated since the 2011 overthrow of veteran dictator Moamemar Gadhafi.

A bomb rocked the playground of a primary school in Benghazi during recess Wednesday, wounding 12 children, hours after gunmen had rampaged through the streets of Libya's restive second city.

Witnesses said the bomb was thrown over the school wall while the children were playing.