The Libyan militia leader charged in a deadly attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi has been hit with a slew of new criminal counts, some punishable by death.

U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday that a federal grand jury in Washington indicted Ahmed Abu Khatallah with more offenses linked to his alleged role in the September 11, 2012, attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon on a surprise visit to Libya Saturday urged warring factions to end the turmoil gripping the North African nation since Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in 2011.

The authorities have struggled to impose their will across a country awash with weapons and powerful militias that ousted and killed the veteran strongman.

A car bomb killed one person and wounded another Friday in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, hospital and military sources said, with neither the authors nor the motive immediately clear.

The car blew up outside the Tibesti hotel in a square popular as a gathering place for demonstrations in support of Libya's army, in a city almost entirely controlled by Islamists.

France said Friday its forces had "destroyed" an al-Qaida convoy in Niger carrying a large amount of weapons from Libya to Mali.

The convoy, belonging to al-Qaida's north African branch, was "intercepted and destroyed (Thursday) night in northern Niger... carrying weapons from Libya to Mali," said a statement from the French presidency.

A spike in clashes between rival militias in Libya has pushed the number of people driven from their homes to an estimated 287,000, the United Nations' refugee agency said Friday.

UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters that some 100,000 people had fled over the past three weeks from Warshefana, on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli.

An Islamist militia chief was among at least 17 people, mostly soldiers, killed this week in fighting over the airport in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, medical and military sources said Thursday.

The oil-rich North African nation has been in turmoil since an uprising toppled longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi three years ago, with interim authorities facing powerful militias that fought to oust him.

From roadside bombs and rocket attacks to murderous ambushes launched on motorbikes, Mali's ousted jihadists have announced their return in a bloodbath of foreign troops in the desert north.

A group of 22 Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians held in Libya for three years on suspicion of fighting for deposed ruler Moammar Gadhafi have returned home after being freed, Russia's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

But Libyan authorities said there had been no decision to free the men and they were looking into whether they might have escaped from jail.

Libya's embattled prime minister, Abdullah al-Thani, said on Wednesday Egypt would help to train his army and called on compatriots to fight Islamist led-militias that have overrun the capital.

Thani and the majority of an internationally recognized parliament elected in June are in virtual domestic exile in the eastern city of Tobruk because of widespread security problems, including in Tripoli where a rival administration has been set up.

British teacher David Bolam has been released after being held hostage in Libya for around five months, the Foreign Office in London said Saturday.

Officials said they were "glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal and that he has been reunited with his family".