ISIS Plot in Morocco Foiled with US Help

Moroccan special forces stand guard at the entrance of a building during a counter-terrorism operation in Temara, on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
Moroccan special forces stand guard at the entrance of a building during a counter-terrorism operation in Temara, on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
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ISIS Plot in Morocco Foiled with US Help

Moroccan special forces stand guard at the entrance of a building during a counter-terrorism operation in Temara, on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo
Moroccan special forces stand guard at the entrance of a building during a counter-terrorism operation in Temara, on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File Photo

Moroccan security forces with US support have foiled a suspected bomb plot by ISIS and arrested a supporter of the organization, counter-terror police said Friday.

"This arrest is the culmination of close collaboration between (Moroccan security forces) and US law-enforcement," Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) said in a statement.

The arrested suspect was "an extremist belonging to ISIS" from the Sala Al-Jadida region north of Rabat, the statement added.

According to preliminary inquiries the man had pledged allegiance to the group.

He had planned to join foreign militant training camps "before deciding to join a terror plot in Morocco using explosive devices", the statement added.

The police subsequently seized electronic devices and materials used for the preparation of explosives.

"This security operation highlights the importance and effectiveness of bilateral cooperation between (Moroccan security services) and US intelligence and security agencies in the fight against extremist violence and the threat of international terrorism," the BCIJ said.



Libya Receives Invitation from Greece to Maritime Zone Talks to Ease Strained Ties

Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
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Libya Receives Invitation from Greece to Maritime Zone Talks to Ease Strained Ties

Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo

Greece has invited Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli to start talks on demarcating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at mending relations between the two neighbors, strained by a controversial maritime deal signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Türkiye, Greece's long-standing foe, which mapped out a sea area close to the Greek island of Crete.

"We invite - and I think you may soon see progress in this area - we invite the Tripoli government to discuss with Greece the delimitation of a continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone," Mitsotakis told local Skai television, Reuters reported.

Greece this year launched a new tender to develop its hydrocarbon resources off Crete, a move that Libya has objected to, saying some of the blocks infringed its own maritime zones.

Law and order has been weak in Libya since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade.

Therefore, any communication with Libya was not easy, Mitsotakis said. He indicated that Greece was determined to continue talking to both the Tripoli-based government and a parallel administration based in Benghazi.

In recent months, Athens has sought closer cooperation with Libya to help stem a surge in migrant arrivals from the North African country to Greece's southern islands of Gavdos and Crete and passed legislation banning migrants arriving from Libya by sea from requesting asylum.

In an incident earlier this month, the European Union migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece were denied entry to the eastern part of divided Libya, shortly after meeting the internationally recognized government that controls the west of Libya.