The United States warned Saturday that the conflict in Libya could become "widespread," urging that a new parliament be quickly seated after contested elections.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also called for work on drafting Libya's new constitution to take place unhindered, amid increasing lawlessness and unrest in the country.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said Thursday it was temporarily reducing its staffing by the dozens because of unspecified security concerns.

In making the announcement, UNSMIL spokesman Samir Ghattas said the decision had been under study for months and not linked to any specific threat.

A U.S. judge Tuesday postponed until September the next hearing for the suspected ringleader of the deadly attack on the American mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi after the prosecution argued the case was unusually "complex."

During the third, brief, hearing for suspect Ahmed Abu Khatallah at a federal court in Washington, assistant prosecutor Michael DiLorenzo asked for the additional time to prepare the case.

Tunisia said Monday it will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the six countries neighboring Libya, to discuss ways of helping it deal with political turmoil and rising lawlessness.

A meeting of Maghreb countries on the situation in Libya had been scheduled for early June but it was delayed indefinitely because of the lack of "visibility" on the crisis unfolding at the time.

Two European engineers kidnapped in Libya at the weekend have been freed, while Rome is working for the release of their Italian colleague, officials said Monday.

The three men -- Bosnian Petar Matic, Macedonian Miljazin Gafuri and Italian Marco Vallisay -- went missing on Saturday.

Libya's electoral commission announced Sunday it was scrapping the results from 24 polling stations due to fraud in a parliamentary election contested at 1,600 stations in June.

An investigation has been launched and those responsible for the alleged fraud will be put on trial, said commission chief Imed al-Sayeh.

Libya's interim government on Sunday called for a halt to an on-off battle between a renegade general and Islamists that has wracked the eastern city of Benghazi for the past two months.

"In light of the dramatic situation of civilians of Benghazi living in fear and terror because of unjustifiable fighting, the government calls on all parties to the conflict to leave the city and to immediately stop fighting," it said in a statement.

An Italian engineer working in Libya was kidnapped at the weekend, the foreign ministry in Rome said Sunday, while two other Europeans were reported missing in the same attack.

"We can confirm that one of our citizens has been kidnapped," a spokesperson at the Italian foreign ministry said. 

Italy called Friday for the U.N.'s refugee agency to help the newly elected Libyan government deal with the huge flow of immigrants and asylum seekers setting off from its coasts for Europe.

"We have a record number of women, men and children arriving, 96 percent of the time from Libya," Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in a press conference in Rome, just hours after another 800 boat migrants were rescued and taken to safety in southern Italy.

Interim Libyan prime minister Abdullah al-Thani announced the end Wednesday to the country's oil crisis, saying the authorities had regained control of two oil terminals that had been blocked by rebels.

He made the announcement at a joint press conference in Ras Lanuf with rebel leader Ibrahim Jodhran, who confirmed that the two ports had been opened.