Tripoli

Hundreds protested for a second night to decry Lebanese authorities' handling of a deepening economic crisis, despite the government pledging on June 12 to inject dollars into the market to bolster the sagging currency.

Near a protest square in central Beirut, around 200 young men drove in on mopeds and defaced shop fronts, setting fire to several stores, an AFP correspondent said.

A Hellenic Navy vessel participating in the European Union's Operation Irini to uphold the United Nations-imposed arms embargo on Libya was on Wednesday monitoring the movements of a Tanzanian-flagged Turkish ship suspected of carrying arms to the North African country.

A Turkish ship suspected of carrying arms to Libya, violating a UN-imposed arms embargo, has been spotted in the central Mediterranean Sea in an area monitored by European Union vessels participating in Operation Irini, Kathimerini understands.
The cargo vessel is accompanied by two Turkish frigates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that he has reached agreements with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that could herald a "new era" concerning Libya.

Erdogan made the comment in a television interview following a telephone call with the U.S. president, but did not elaborate on the agreements reached. 

Forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government captured the last major stronghold of eastern commander Khalifa Haftar near Tripoli on June 5, capping the sudden collapse of his 14-month offensive on the capital.

Libya's internationally recognised government regained control of Tripoli on June 4, driving eastern forces out of the capital after a 14-month battle in which foreign powers poured in arms and fighters.

In the recaptured southern suburbs, bodies still lay on the ground and fighters brandished weapons abandoned by the eastern forces, a Reuters visual journalist said.

Forces backing Libya's unity government said on June 3 they had reseized the capital's Tripoli International Airport, held since 2019 by rival forces backing Khalifa Haftar, in the latest in a string of defeats for the eastern-based military commander.

The foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Jordan held a video conference on Wednesday to discuss ongoing developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region and other issues.

In a statement, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said he had briefed his counterparts over Turkey's "increasingly provocative rhetoric and behavior which is destabilizing the entire region."

The prime minister of Libya's internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayyez al-Sarraj, will pay a visit to Ankara on June 4 for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Turkey's top security board has reiterated that Turkey's support to the Tripoli government will continue in its fight against General Khalifa Haftar forces.

Russia has not sent military personnel to Libya and the Russian upper house of parliament has not received a request to approve such a dispatch, Interfax on May 27 cited Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the upper house's international affairs committee, as saying.