The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned the "heinous" attack on a hotel in Tripoli that left nine dead and said those behind the terrorist act should face justice. 

Five foreigners -- an American, two Filipinas, a French citizen and a South Korean national -- were among those killed when gunmen stormed the luxury Corinthia Hotel in the Libyan capital.

A second round of peace talks between Libya's warring factions ended in Geneva on Tuesday in a "positive atmosphere," the U.N. said, as IS militants staged a deadly attack on a Tripoli hotel.

Participants at the two-day U.N.-brokered talks included a range of groups and representatives of civil society, who stressed the need to fast-track dialogue on forming a unity government.

Gunmen stormed a hotel in Tripoli popular with diplomats and officials Tuesday in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, killing at least nine people, including five foreigners, before blowing themselves up.

After setting off a car bomb outside the luxury Corinthia Hotel in Libya's capital, three militants rushed inside and opened fire, Issam al-Naass, a security services spokesman, told AFP.

A new round of peace talks between Libya's warring factions kicked off in Geneva Monday with all parties showing a "constructive spirit", the United Nations said.

"I am confident that Libyans participating and those who hopefully will join the talks have a very clear determination to reach an agreement, to pacify the country and to overcome the crisis," said Bernadino Leon, the U.N. envoy for Libya and mediator in the talks.

A Libyan deputy foreign minister was released Monday, a day after his kidnapping by gunmen in the eastern city of Al-Baida where the recognized government is based, his ministry announced.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan al-Saghir has been freed," a ministry official said, without giving details. Saghir himself, contacted by Agence France Presse, said only that he was fine.

A new round of peace talks between Libya's warring factions resumed in Geneva Monday to try and save the country from sinking into deeper chaos.

During a first round of U.N.-mediated discussions in the Swiss city earlier this month, warring factions from the strife-torn country agreed on a roadmap to form a unity government. 

Libya's Ansar al-Sharia jihadist group on Saturday confirmed the death of its leader Mohamed al-Zehawi, after Islamist websites reported he had been mortally wounded in fighting in October.

"We mourn the death of the Emir of Ansar al-Sharia Sheikh Mohamed al-Zehawi," the group said in a statement, without giving details about the time or circumstances of his death.

The head of Libya's Ansar al-Sharia jihadist group, whose fate has been a mystery since fighting in October, was mortally wounded then, Islamist websites and an army officer said Saturday.

Mohamed al-Zehawi "was killed in Benina clashes near the Benghazi airport, southeast of the city," the Islamist militias February 17 Martyrs and Rafallah al-Sahati Brigades said on Facebook.

Britain allowed Libyan intelligence agents to operate on British soil during Moamer Kadhafi's regime, enabling them allegedly to intimidate political opponents seeking asylum, media reports said Friday.

The claim is based on an analysis of files unearthed from Kadhafi's archives after his fall in 2011, which cast fresh light on the cooperation between Britain and Libya, The Guardian and Daily Mail newspapers said.

A new round of peace talks between Libya's warring factions will possibly take place in Geneva next week, the United Nations said Friday.

There is no confirmation yet where or when the next round of Libyan peace talks will take place, but "there is a possibility that they come back to Geneva next week," U.N. spokeswoman Corinne Momal-Vanian told reporters.