Italy on Monday ruled out military intervention in Libya in the short term, despite mounting concern in Rome over the country's exposure to the fallout from the chaos engulfing its former colony.

The country's defense and foreign ministers have, in recent days, aired the possibility of Italy leading a U.N.-backed force on a mission to stabilize Libya and address the potential threat posed by Islamic militants establishing a base within easy reach of Europe.

Cairo carried out air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Libya on Monday after the jihadists posted a video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Egypt said a "tough intervention" was needed and with France called on the U.N. Security Council to "take new measures" against the jihadists in neighboring Libya.

Egypt's leader vowed to punish the "murderers" responsible for the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians after the Islamic State group in Libya released a video on Sunday purportedly showing the mass killing.

A visibly angry President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt "reserves the right to respond in a suitable way and time" in a televised speech, and declared seven days of mourning after the video was distributed by jihadists on social media.

The Italian coastguard launched a massive operation Sunday to rescue more than 2,000 migrants in difficulty between the Italian island of Lampedusa and the Libyan coast, local media said.

The emergency rescue came on the same day Italy said it was evacuating staff from its embassy in Libya and suspending operations there, highlighting the worsening security situation in the violence-plagued country.

Italy's foreign ministry on Friday advised against travelling to Libya and suggested that its nationals already should leave, adding that it stands ready to participate in any U.N. intervention in the country.

"We reiterate our invitation to our nationals to not travel to Libya and for those already there to provisionally leave the country," the foreign ministry said on its website.

Gunmen claiming to be members of the Islamic State jihadist group have seized control of a state-run radio station in Libya's coastal city of Sirte, residents said Friday.

Jihadist websites also posted pictures showing armed men sitting in front of microphones in a broadcasting studio and brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Tunisia dispatched two cabinet ministers to the south Wednesday to hear the grievances of residents, whose anger over a crackdown on rampant smuggling in the area has sparked deadly clashes.

Many people in the relatively impoverished south, which borders Libya, make a living from smuggling, complaining of decades of government neglect and demanding the creation of jobs.

Delegates from Libya's rival parliaments gathered for the first time Wednesday for talks aimed at ending months of instability in the violence-plagued country, the U.N. mission said. 

"Participants arrive in #Ghadames for round of political dialogue aimed at ending #Libya's crisis," the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said on Twitter.

More than 300 migrants were feared drowned Wednesday after their overcrowded dinghies sank in the Mediterranean, the latest boat disaster on the perilous crossing from Africa to Europe.

The victims were among migrants mainly from sub-Saharan Africa who had left the coast of Libya at the weekend in four small boats, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Much of southern Tunisia bordering Libya staged a general strike Tuesday following deadly clashes between police and demonstrators after the seizure of contraband fuel, unions said.

They said only the emergency services, chemists and bakers were working in the Tatouine area, and an Agence France-Presse journalist said Ben Guerdane near the Ras Jedir border post was also paralyzed.