World powers are gathering Wednesday in Berlin to seek lasting peace in Libya by ensuring the conflict-wracked North African country stays firmly on the path towards general elections on December 24.

Prosecutors have charged four executives at two French companies accused of aiding Libya's former strongman Moamer Kadhafi and Egyptian authorities to spy on opposition figures who were later detained and tortured, a rights group said Tuesday.

A new unity government in Libya had raised hopes the war-ravaged North African nation had turned a corner towards peace -- but analysts warn that major stumbling blocks remain.

Dozens of armed men staged a show of force late Friday at a hotel used as a headquarters by Libya's presidential council as the nation's deep divisions resurface.

Pro-Ankara Syrian militia deployed in Libya have started to withdraw, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday, describing the move as "encouraging".

The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy were in Tripoli to meet their Libyan counterpart Thursday in a show of support for the war-torn country's newly formed unity government.

Libya's new government includes five women, with two in key portfolios -- a first for the country nonetheless criticised by activists as insufficient and as not living up to a UN commitment.

The United Nations Security Council called on Friday for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya "without further delay" in a unanimously approved declaration.

The advance team of a UN observer mission has arrived in Libya, which after a decade of conflict and chaos plans to hold elections in December, informed sources said Wednesday.

The Libyan parliament will discuss holding a vote of confidence on a new unified government for the divided country on March 8, its powerful speaker Aguila Saleh said.