Head of Libya’s GNU: Time of Military Coups Is Over

Dbeibah seen at the event at al-Khoms city. (GNU)
Dbeibah seen at the event at al-Khoms city. (GNU)
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Head of Libya’s GNU: Time of Military Coups Is Over

Dbeibah seen at the event at al-Khoms city. (GNU)
Dbeibah seen at the event at al-Khoms city. (GNU)

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah declared that the “time of military coups is over.”

In remarks on International Youth Day on Friday, he vowed to prevent war from again erupting in the country.

“We don’t want wars and those seeking destruction must look at the missing, amputees and martyrs. We say to those who want power through military coups that their time is over,” he stressed.

He added that his message is addressed to those “who want destruction and a return to war.” He stressed, however, that “there can be no turning back.”

Moreover, Dbeibah said the will of the people cannot be ignored.

He accused the east-based parliament and the High Council of State of extending their own terms to prolong the transitional period rather than hold elections.

“We have no choice but to hold elections,” stressed Dbeibah. “We support the staging of free and transparent polls.”

Turning to the parliament, he urged: “Stop meddling with the people. Approve constitutional regulations so that we can hold the elections.”

Later, Dbeibah attended an event in al-Khoms city to announce residential loans to needy youths and families.

Local media said Dbeibah attempted to appeal to the youth, while some members of the crowd chanted “Al-Fateh”, a reference to late ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi.



Syrian Intelligence Says It Foiled ISIS Attempt to Target Damascus Shrine

A general view of the city during the year's first sunrise on New Year's Day, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A general view of the city during the year's first sunrise on New Year's Day, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syrian Intelligence Says It Foiled ISIS Attempt to Target Damascus Shrine

A general view of the city during the year's first sunrise on New Year's Day, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A general view of the city during the year's first sunrise on New Year's Day, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Intelligence officials in Syria's new de facto government thwarted a plan by the ISIS group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, state media reported Saturday.

State news agency SANA reported, citing an unnamed official in the General Intelligence Service, that members of the ISIS cell planning the attack were arrested.  

It quoted the official as saying that the intelligence service is “putting all its capabilities to stand in the face of all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their spectrums.”

Sayyida Zeinab has been the site of past attacks on Shiite pilgrims by ISIS.

In 2023, a motorcycle planted with explosives detonated in Sayyida Zeinab, killing at least six people and wounding dozens.

The announcement that the attack had been thwarted appeared to be another attempt by the country's new leaders to reassure religious minorities, including those seen as having been supporters of the former government of Bashar al-Assad.

Assad, a member of the Alawite minority, was allied with Iran and with the Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah as well as Iranian-backed Iraqi militias.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the former opposition group that led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad last month and is now the de facto ruling party in the country, is a group that formerly had ties with al-Qaeda.

The group later split from al-Qaeda, and HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has preached religious coexistence since assuming power in Damascus.

Also Saturday, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus to meet with al-Sharaa.

Relations between the two countries had been strained under Assad, with Lebanon's political factions deeply divided between those supporting and opposing Assad's rule.