Libya's warring factions must reach a deal on forming a unity government within days, not weeks, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said Monday.

Mogherini told the U.N. Security Council that the European Union was "ready and willing to provide all kinds of assistance" once a new power-sharing Libyan government is in place.

Anti-Islamist General Khalifa Haftar was sworn in Monday as the new army chief in conflict-ridden Libya, a week after his nomination by the elected parliament, a spokesman for the legislature said.

"Khalifa Belgacem Haftar, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, took the oath before the parliament," spokesman Faraj Abu Hachem told Agence France Presse.

Four Filipinos, an Austrian and four other foreigners were abducted in an attack on a Libyan oilfield last week, official sources said Monday, after an assault blamed on Islamic State jihadists.

Eight guards were killed in the surprise attack on the southern oilfield of Al-Ghani on Friday, the Libyan unit tasked with protecting oil installations has said.

Former French interior minister Claude Gueant was taken into custody on Friday in connection with a probe into the alleged financing by Moammar Gadhafi's Libya of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign.

Investigators discovered a 500,000 euro ($540,000) transfer in Gueant's bank account during a raid in February 2013.

Rival Libyan factions said Friday they were upbeat about the course of U.N.-mediated talks under way in Morocco aimed at brokering a deal on a national unity government.

U.N. envoy Bernardino Leon shuttled between representatives of Libya's rival parliaments, the General National Congress and the elected and internationally recognized legislature, for a second day near Rabat.

Islamic State group jihadists killed eight guards on Friday in an attack on the southern Libyan oilfield of al-Ghani, a spokesman for the unit tasked with guarding oil installations said.

"Extremists from the Libyan subsidiary of IS mounted a surprise attack on the oilfield, killing eight soldiers," Ali al-Hassi said.

The head of the EU's borders agency fears as many as a million migrants could try to reach Europe this year from Libya alone.

"Sources tell us there are between 500,000 and one million migrants ready to leave Libya," Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said in an interview with Italy's Ansa news agency that was published Friday.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Thursday Russia could play a decisive role in resolving the crisis in Libya, during a rare visit by a European leader to Moscow.

Renzi held talks with President Vladimir Putin in a visit that also focused on the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's chilly relations with the European Union over its backing of  separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Representatives of Libya's two rival parliaments on Thursday held U.N.-brokered talks in Morocco aimed at reaching an agreement on a national unity government and finding someone to head it, officials said.

Libya has been wracked by conflict since the 2011 armed uprising, with two governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the North African country's oil riches.

Around 4,000 Filipinos remain in Libya despite the North African country's perilous security situation, staying put for higher salaries in spite of the risks presented by rival armed groups to migrant workers, the Philippines said Thursday.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told Agence France Presse "(The) reason for staying is mainly economic," adding that "4,000 still remain".