An Libyan al-Qaida suspect arraigned in a New York court pleaded not guilty Tuesday to conspiracy charges over the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa that killed 244 people.

Anas al-Libi was snatched from the streets of the Libyan capital Tripoli by U.S. commandos on October 5 and at the weekend was brought to New York, where he he had been indicted by a grand jury.

A Libyan al-Qaida suspect who was snatched from Tripoli by U.S. commandos and interrogated on an American warship, has been brought to New York to face trial, a prosecutor said Monday.

Abu Anas al-Libi arrived in the United States at the weekend and was brought directly to New York, where he has been under indictment for more than a decade.

A Libyan air force officer was killed and another security forces member badly wounded on Sunday in two separate attacks in the eastern city of Benghazi, an official said.

"Unidentified assailants opened fire on Abdelfattah al-Ryani, an air force officer, in the al-Hadaek region of Benghazi," Colonel Abdullah al-Zaidi of the security services told Agence France Presse.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said Sunday he was "determined" to tackle illegal immigration, two days after a boat carrying migrants sank between the North African country and Malta, killing dozens.

Thirty-one people died and more than 200 people were rescued after the boat capsized on Friday after setting out from the Libyan port of Zwara.

Syrian refugees who survived after their boat capsized off Malta say they were fired on by warring trafficking gangs as they set out on their perilous journey from Libya, the U.N. refugee agency reported Sunday.

Thirty-one people were killed and more than 200 people were rescued after the boat capsized on Friday, a week after a shipwreck off Italy left at least 359 dead, prompting Malta to warn the Mediterranean was turning into "a cemetery."

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said Friday that his abduction for several hours the previous day by former rebels was an attempted coup.

"I do not think that more than 100 armed vehicles can seal off the hotel district (in Tripoli) to people without a command being given," he said in a televised address.

The International Criminal Court ruled Friday that Libya can try slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi's former spy chief, the first time it has deferred a case to a national judiciary.

The move can be appealed but could mark the end of a lengthy legal tug-of-war between the embattled ICC and authorities in Libya, which many consider lawless since Gadhafi's bloody overthrow in 2011.

A car bomb exploded outside the Swedish consulate in the restive Libyan city of Benghazi Friday, seriously damaging the building but causing no casualties, a security official said.

"A powerful explosion in front of the Swedish consulate caused serious damage to it and neighboring buildings but no casualties," Colonel Abdullah Zaidi said.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has accused a "political party" of organizing his brief abduction by armed gunmen on Thursday, the latest example of the lawlessness prevailing since Moammar Gadhafi's overthrow.

The premier appeared in good health when he arrived at government headquarters after his ordeal, waving to waiting well-wishers as he climbed out of an armored car.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday denounced the kidnapping of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and pledged the United States would continue to work with Libya to shore up its security.

"Libyans did not risk their lives in their 2011 revolution to tolerate a return to thuggery," Kerry said in a statement, also welcoming Zeidan's release after he was held by gunmen for several hours.