The Islamic State group claimed deadly car bombings in Libya on Friday as the international community struggles to find ways to end the chaos in the North African nation. 

Libyan security sources said 31 people were killed and 40 wounded in three simultaneous attacks in the town of al-Qoba that targeted a police headquarters, a petrol station and the home of the parliament speaker.

The Council of Maronite bishops welcomed on Friday the dialogue among the country's different factions, hoping that it would lead to the election of a new president, and urged the Lebanese to back the state at this critical stage.

The bishops hoped in a statement following their monthly meeting in Bkirki that “talks among the Lebanese political parties would be aimed at electing a head of state.”

Having balked at Egypt's call for military intervention in Libya, the international community faces a daunting task to find a political solution to the lawless North African country's crisis, analysts say.

Roiled by turmoil ever since the NATO-backed ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya's security has continued to deteriorate, prompting calls for an easing of an arms embargo to help the internationally recognized government regain some control.

Turkey on Thursday bluntly told Libya's internationally recognized prime minister to stop making "irresponsible" and "hostile" comments after he accused Ankara of meddling in the affairs of his conflict-ravaged country.

"We expect interim government officials to revise their irresponsible attitude toward our country and avoid hostile and groundless statements," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Middle Eastern leaders to stand up to "violent extremism" and stop proxy wars that fuel the rise of terror groups.

"The notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie," he told the final day of a conference on combating extremism. "And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it."

Jihadists claiming affiliation with the Islamic State group took over the university in the Libyan city of Sirte Thursday, leading it to suspend classes and postpone exams, a professor said.

The incident came a day after dozens of gunmen paraded through the streets of the Mediterranean coastal city, 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Tripoli, in a convoy, witnesses said.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond rejected international military action in Libya on Thursday and said the crisis-hit country needed a political solution.

"We don't believe that military action can solve the problem in Libya," Hammond said at a joint press conference in Algiers with Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Egypt Thursday following a row over Cairo's air strikes on jihadist targets in Libya, threatening fresh divisions among Western-allied Arab states.

A foreign ministry official said Doha was recalling its envoy for consultation after Egypt's delegate to the Arab League accused Qatar of supporting "terrorism", during discussions on Libya.

Libya's foreign minister urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to lift an arms embargo to allow the country's military to fight jihadists, amid growing alarm over the threat from the Islamic State group.

Mohammed al-Dairi made the appeal to the 15-member council after Islamic State militants beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, triggering worldwide revulsion and condemnation.

Arab states will ask the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to lift an arms embargo on weapons sales to Libya's internationally recognized government for its fight against jihadists, Egypt said.

Cairo, which is pushing for tough measures against the Islamic State group in Libya after jihadists there beheaded Egyptian Christians, had called for international military action against IS but dropped the request after Western hesitation.