The Arab League said Tuesday that it would hold its annual summit on March 28-29 in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, with national security topping the agenda.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday to prepare for the high-level talks.

Egypt said Tuesday a political accord in Libya would not be enough to tackle the jihadist threat in the country, after Western states balked at military intervention following Egyptian air strikes.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry's comment came a day after the internationally recognized parliament in east Libya announced a suspension of its participation in UN-brokered negotiations between Libya's warring rival administrations.

Almost 15,000 Egyptians have flocked home from war-torn Libya via the border crossing at Sallum, state media reported Monday, after Islamic State group jihadists murdered 21 Coptic Christians.

Last week Egyptian and Libyan warplanes hit IS targets inside Libya after the jihadists released a gruesome video on February 15 showing the Christians, 20 of them Egyptian, being beheaded.

At least 1,000 Egyptians have been evacuated from Libya through Tunisia since Friday, the Tunisian transport ministry said, following the murder of Coptic Christians by the Islamic State group.

Last week Egyptian and Libyan warplanes hit IS targets inside Libya after the jihadists released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Christians, most of them Egyptian.

An Egyptian court postponed Monday the trial of two Al-Jazeera journalists to March 8, with Canadian reporter Mohamed Fahmy saying he hoped for a fair hearing in a case that sparked global criticism.

They stand accused of supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement in their coverage, a charge they have denied as absurd.

Egypt shut its embassy in Sanaa and recalled all its staff Monday due to deteriorating security, state media said, joining a diplomatic exodus since Shiite militia seized the Yemeni capital.

Long on the front line of the US war against Al-Qaeda, Yemen has descended into chaos since the Shiite Huthi militia swept into Sanaa from their mountainous northern stronghold last year.

An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced Alaa Abdel Fattah, a leading dissident in the 2011 uprising that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak, to five years in prison over an illegal protest.

The remaining 24 defendants in the case received sentences ranging from three to 15 years.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised Sunday to release young people who may have been wrongly jailed during Egypt's crackdown on the opposition since he overthrew his Islamist predecessor in 2013.

In an almost 40-minute televised address, Sisi also said the jihadist targets that his country's air force struck in neighboring Libya last week had been carefully chosen to avoid civilian casualties.

The Islamic State group claimed deadly car bombings in Libya on Friday as the international community struggles to find ways to end the chaos in the North African nation. 

Libyan security sources said 31 people were killed and 40 wounded in three simultaneous attacks in the town of al-Qoba that targeted a police headquarters, a petrol station and the home of the parliament speaker.

Journalists still detained in Egypt should not be forgotten, freed Australian Al-Jazeera reporter Peter Greste said in an address in London on Thursday.

Greste was deported from Egypt this month after over 400 days in jail, accused of supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood in a case that sparked global outcry and embarrassment for Egypt.