Hundreds of Egyptian workers have been refused entry to Libya over the past 48 hours because their visas were not valid, a spokesman at Tripoli's Miitiga airport said Saturday.

"Around 800 Egyptians were turned away. They all had non-compliant visas," the spokesman told AFP.

A British court on Thursday ruled that a Libyan politician can sue the government over his claim that Britain conspired with the CIA in his "rendition" to Libya for torture in a case that could pave the way for similar legal action.

The Court of Appeal ruling overturns a previous court decision in December that said that while Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and his wife had a "well-founded claim" the case was beyond the jurisdiction of British courts.

Pro-government and rebel militias vying for control of western Libya are committing war crimes including torturing detainees and targeting civilians, Amnesty International said Thursday. 

Libya is being rocked by fighting between militias in the west and in second city Benghazi, where troops are trying to dislodge Islamists who control most of what was the cradle of the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani said Wednesday he was ready to talk to militias who control most of his country if "all sides" made concessions.

Thani's government took refuge in the remote eastern town of of Tobruk in August after Islamist-led militia seized the capital Tripoli and then set up a rival administration.

Niger said Tuesday its embassy in Libya was surrounded by heavily armed militias, possibly in response to unfounded rumors that Nigerien forces had entered the Libyan embassy in Niamey.

The militias encircled the mission in the capital Tripoli in the early hours of Tuesday, resulting in "diplomatic personnel, including the ambassador, being confined," the secretary general of Niger's foreign ministry, Abani Sani Ibrahim, told reporters.

The U.N. envoy to Libya expressed serious concern Tuesday about violence in the country, calling again for a ceasefire as a car exploded outside a police station in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Libya has been rocked by fighting between militias in the west and in Benghazi, where troops are trying to dislodge Islamists who control most of what was the cradle of the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani said Wednesday he was ready to talk to militias who control most of his country if "all sides" made concessions.

Thani's government took refuge in the remote eastern town of of Tobruk in August after Islamist-led militia seized the capital Tripoli and then set up a rival administration.

Libya's remote desert south has become a haven for north African jihadists who have set up training camps in what has traditionally been a hotbed of arms smuggling, experts say.

Oil-rich Libya slid into chaos after veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed uprising three years ago.

A raid by Tunisian security forces on an armed group near the capital Friday left six suspected militants dead, including five women, fanning tensions days ahead of a landmark election.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and police will be deployed for Sunday's parliamentary polls -- the first since an uprising three years ago that inspired the Arab Spring revolutions.

Tunisia, fearing possible terrorist attacks, will close its border with politically unstable Libya for three days to coincide with this weekend's parliamentary election, the government said Thursday.

The Ras Jedir and Dehiba border crossings would be closed from Friday through election day Sunday for people travelling from Libya, except for diplomatic missions and in "exceptional and urgent cases," a statement said.