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Libya Captures ISIS Militant Behind Three Attacks

Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
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Libya Captures ISIS Militant Behind Three Attacks

Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

A leader of ISIS group who allegedly planned and sponsored three deadly attacks in the Libyan capital Tripoli in 2018 has been captured, the country's prime minister said Thursday.

"Our forces apprehended on Tuesday a leader of the terrorist organization ISIS, involved in the planning and command of terrorist acts that targeted the institutions of our country and their fallen officials," Abdelhamid Dbeibah, head of the United Nations-supported Libyan government, said during a live television broadcast.

The government's media office offered no further details on the identity or nationality of the militant, who was arrested in a joint military operation.

Dbeibah also renewed his government's commitment to "combat terrorism in all its forms", to "prosecute anyone involved" in terrorist acts, and to "strengthen stability throughout the country".

On May 2, 2018, 14 people were killed in a suicide attack claimed by ISIS on the headquarters of the Libyan High Electoral Commission in Tripoli.

On September 10, 2018, a suicide attack by the militant group against the headquarters of the Libyan National Oil Company in the capital killed two and wounded 10 company staff.

On December 25, 2018, three people, including a Libyan diplomat, were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
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Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese officials on Tuesday that Iran wanted to turn a "new page" in relations with Beirut, hinting at a shift in diplomatic ties that were long grounded in supporting Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah was once a powerful armed movement and political party with sway over Lebanon's state, but it was severely weakened by Israel's bombing campaign last year. Since then, Lebanon's army commander was elected president and a new cabinet with curtailed influence for Hezbollah and its allies took power.

Araqchi's one-day trip to Beirut on Tuesday was his first since February, when he attended the funeral of Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in Israeli air strikes in September.

Araqchi told both Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi that he wanted to "turn a new page" in Iran's ties with Lebanon, according to statements by Salam and Raggi's offices.

"Araqchi affirmed his country's keenness to open a new page in bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," Salam's office said. Araqchi also extended a formal invitation for Salam to visit Iran.

The statement from Raggi's office said the pair had a "frank and direct discussion," including on establishing the state's monopoly on the use of arms - an apparent reference to possible negotiations on the future of Hezbollah's arsenal.

The top Iranian diplomat briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is a key Hezbollah ally. Unlike previous addresses by Iranian diplomats, his comments did not mention Hezbollah.

The visit followed several turbulent episodes in ties between the two countries.

Lebanon's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to Beirut in April over comments alleging that plans to disarm Hezbollah were a "conspiracy".

Last year, then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati also issued a rare rebuke of Iran for "interfering" in internal Lebanese affairs.

In February, Iran blocked Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Tehran after Lebanon said it would not allow Iranian aircraft to land in Beirut because of Israel's threats that it would bomb the planes.