The United States on Friday denied threatening the family of executed reporter James Foley with prosecution had they raised a ransom for his release, insisting the government did everything possible to bring him home.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani acknowledged Wednesday that the UAE has arrested seven Libyans, after reports that the Gulf state has detained 30.

"Only seven people" were being held in the United Arab Emirates, Thani told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday urged the international community to take decisive action in Libya, which he said was becoming a "hub for terrorist groups".

Al-Qaida's launch of a new branch in its heartland of South Asia masks the "desperation" of the world's former terror bogeyman as  it finds itself eclipsed by the savagery and slickness of the Islamic State, analysts say.

A U.S. judge ordered a delay in the trial of Abu Khatallah, accused of being the ringleader of a 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

In a brief ruling, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper granted a motion waiving Khatallah's right to a speedy trial, delaying until October 20 a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Libya militias which fought a fierce five-week battle for control of Tripoli's international airport committed "war crimes" against civilians, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

The U.N. mission in Libya, UNSMIL, last week reported grave human rights violations during the clashes between mostly Islamist fighters and a nationalist militia.

Libya has accused Sudan of flying weapons to "terrorist" groups on its territory and declared Khartoum's military attache persona non grata, a government statement said.

According to the statement, received on Sunday by AFP, a Sudanese aircraft carrying ammunition destined for Libyan armed groups landed in the southern Kufra region on an unspecified date.

Grave human rights violations have been committed during clashes in the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, with disastrous consequences for civilians, a U.N. report said on Friday.

The warning came from the U.N. mission in Tripoli (UNSMIL) and U.N. rights office only days after Libya's outgoing government admitted from its safe refuge in the east that it has effectively lost control of the capital to armed militias.

Nigeria and its regional allies on Wednesday called for greater international support to shut down Boko Haram's weapons and funding supply as concern mounted at the group's rapid recent land grab.

The call came after conflicting reports that the militants had seized another town, prompting warnings that Nigeria was losing control of the northeast and violence could spill across borders.

A plane from the forces of renegade former Libyan general Khalifa Haftar crashed in the city of Tobruk on Tuesday, killing the pilot and a child, a security official said.

"The pilot was killed when his aircraft hit a building during a demonstration flight," the official told Agence France-Presse.