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Libya Reveals Truth Behind Disappearance of Former US Officer

Libyans commute on a highway in the capital Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 3, 2020. (AFP)
Libyans commute on a highway in the capital Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 3, 2020. (AFP)
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Libya Reveals Truth Behind Disappearance of Former US Officer

Libyans commute on a highway in the capital Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 3, 2020. (AFP)
Libyans commute on a highway in the capital Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 3, 2020. (AFP)

Libya's Foreign Ministry has revealed information about the detention of a former US Navy submariner during his trip to southern Libya last month.

Fernando Espinoza, a 29-year-old teacher and former US Navy submariner, had disappeared in Libya on November 9, five weeks after arriving in the country to start a new job at an international school in Tripoli.

The Foreign Ministry has expressed its astonishment at a CNN news channel report that it said released "false and inaccurate" information regarding Espinoza and the circumstances of his arrest.

The Ministry revealed late on Thursday that he was detained because his visa had expired.

He was arrested by the security forces in southern Libya for violating the terms of his stay and for being present in a dangerous region without receiving a permit from concerned authorities and in spite of repeated warnings against traveling to the area.

The statement confirmed that Espinoza is with the relevant authorities, noting that a phone call was made with the consular official at the US embassy in Tripoli two weeks ago and that his country's embassy, in turn, contacted his family.

His voice was shaky, his mother Sara Espinoza recalled, almost unrecognizable from the confident commentary he would post to YouTube charting his foreign travels.

"Towards the end, I guess as they were telling him that the call had to end, he started crying," she said.

In early October, Espinoza flew to Libya and a month later, on November 4, he took a weekend trip to the Idehan Ubari desert to see the Gaberoun oasis, a salty lake once home to a Bedouin tribe whose abandoned village is now a local tourist site.

He had been explicitly told by his new employers not to venture outside Tripoli because it was too dangerous. But he went anyway, according to his mother.

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush had stepped in to expedite the deportation procedures and make sure they are completed by next week.

"We are monitoring the situation and due to privacy considerations, we are not going to go into specifics at this time," said the US Department of State.

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Arab World

SDRPY Advances Construction of Model Secondary School in Yemen's Seiyun

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
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SDRPY Advances Construction of Model Secondary School in Yemen's Seiyun

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA

Work is progressing on the construction and outfitting of Al-Sabban model secondary school in Yemen’s Seiyun, a project implemented by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) as part of its ongoing efforts to support the education sector and enhance learning environments across Yemen’s governorates.

The school features modern classrooms, laboratories, and supporting facilities designed to meet the demands of contemporary education and provide a comprehensive and stimulating environment for students.

It is one of four model schools in Hadramout and part of more than 30 similar projects across various Yemeni governorates, according to SPA.

The SDRPY has also implemented a range of initiatives to support education in Hadhramout, including renewable energy projects that expand access to learning in Mukalla, Seiyun, and Doan and Wadi Al-Ain districts.

In January, the program announced several key projects, including the establishment of computer science and information technology colleges at Hadhramout and Seiyun universities, as well as the rehabilitation and development of the Agricultural Veterinary Technical Institute.

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs.

Collectively, these projects are expected to expand access to education, improve the quality of learning environments, and enhance the efficiency of educational infrastructure in Hadramout Governorate. They will also help empower students and develop a skilled workforce, supporting long-term sustainable development.

Arab World

Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Forces Official, Widening Divisions Over Hezbollah

The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Forces Official, Widening Divisions Over Hezbollah

The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)

An Israeli strike on an apartment east of Beirut late on Sunday killed a local official from the Lebanese Forces, sharpening internal divides over Hezbollah as Israel's strikes expand to new parts of the country.

The war raging in Lebanon over the past month has deepened fractures between supporters of Hezbollah and those who blame the Iran-backed group for igniting a new conflict with Israel just 15 months after the last one.

On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town in the hills east of Beirut, killing a man and two women, Lebanon's health ministry said. Ain Saadeh's mayor said the victims were one floor below the targeted apartment.

The ‌Lebanese Forces, ‌a fiercely anti-Hezbollah party, identified two of the dead as Pierre ‌Moawad, ⁠a local party official, ⁠and his wife Flavia.

"We are paying a heavy price for a war into which we have been dragged by the lawless organization Hezbollah," Lebanese Forces parliamentarian Razi El Hage told Lebanese broadcaster MTV.

Israel's full-scale air and ground campaign, launched in retaliation for Hezbollah firing into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, has killed more than 1,460 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

ISRAEL REVIEWING STRIKE

The air campaign and Israel's orders for people to leave swathes of Lebanon's south, east, and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced more ⁠than a million people, most of them from the Shiite ‌community from which Hezbollah draws its support.

Some residents and local ‌officials in predominantly Christian areas have expressed concern that displaced communities are harboring fighters that could be targeted by Israel, ‌with local authorities vetting those seeking rented accommodation.

Nadim Gemayel, of the Kataeb party, told ‌Reuters last month he was worried Israel was deliberately pushing Shiites into other parts of Lebanon to create conflict with other communities.

There was no Israeli military order for people to flee before Sunday's strike. Residents said no displaced people were living in the targeted apartment or surrounding buildings.

"I've been in my house for 20 ‌years, I've never even seen this apartment lit. There's no one in it," Antoine Aalam, a 70-year-old man who lives across from the ⁠targeted apartment, told Reuters on ⁠Monday.

The Israeli military told Reuters it had struck a "terror target east of Beirut" without providing further details.

"Reports that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike are being reviewed," it said.

CIVIL PEACE IS 'RED LINE'

Although the last war with Hezbollah ended with a ceasefire in 2024, Israel continued its strikes on Lebanon and kept troops stationed in the country's south. Lebanon's calls for Israel to negotiate a new truce have fallen on deaf ears.

Sunday's strike came just hours after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in his first televised address since the war erupted, said the country's "primary concern is preserving civil peace, which is a red line."

A separate Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed five people, including a teenage girl and two Sudanese migrant workers, and another on a car in southern Lebanon killed a man and his wife, and injured their two children.

Arab World

Raid Hits Beirut’s Southern Suburbs as Israel Says Striking Hezbollah

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, near Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium (R), on April 6, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, near Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium (R), on April 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Raid Hits Beirut’s Southern Suburbs as Israel Says Striking Hezbollah

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, near Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium (R), on April 6, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, near Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium (R), on April 6, 2026. (AFP)

An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday as Israel's army said it was targeting Hezbollah, with the raid sending a large plume of smoke billowing across the skyline.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported the strike on the Hezbollah stronghold, which has been largely emptied of residents following repeated Israeli attacks and evacuation warnings.

Israel has launched strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran.

Israel's army said it was "striking Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut" on Monday.

Shortly before the warning, an AFP journalist in the southern suburbs saw just a few shops open, including a bakery, a pharmacy and a barbershop, as well as a gas station belonging to the Al-Amana fuel company destroyed in a previous raid.

The Israeli army said on Sunday that in recent days, it had struck two Al-Amana petrol stations "which were controlled by Hezbollah and served as significant financial infrastructure" supporting the group's activities.

Fresh portraits mourning Iran's former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli attack on February 28 that triggered the Middle East conflict, were visible along main roads in the southern suburbs.

The NNA also reported deadly strikes in the country's south and east on Monday.

A day earlier, Israel repeatedly struck the southern suburbs and also hit a site in Beirut's Jnah neighbourhood near the country's largest public medical facility.

The health ministry said that strike killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals.

Another strike on the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, killed three people including two women, authorities said.

Among the dead were Pierre Mouawad, a local official in the Lebanese Forces, a party strongly opposed to Hezbollah, and his wife.

Residents of the building told local media that the strike hit the apartment above Mouawad's.

Israel's military said Monday that it had struck a "terrorist target" east of Beirut.

"Reports of casualties among Lebanese civilians not involved in the fighting are being examined. All details of the incident are under review," it said.