A U.S. airstrike in northern Iraq has killed an Islamic State operative who was a person of interest in the 2012 Benghazi attack, the Pentagon said Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said Ali Awni al-Harzi of Tunisia was killed in Mosul on June 15. 

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is set to preside a meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with following up the case of Lebanese hostages as a last step before their expected release.

Ministerial sources told An Nahar daily published on Monday that the Lebanese authorities have completed the file of the prisoner exchange.

The Arab League on Sunday condemned what it called the "hateful campaign" against Qatar's controversial hosting of the 2022 World Cup, amid a corruption scandal rocking football's governing body FIFA.

The League's General Assembly in a statement declared its "full support" for Qatar's hosting of the tournament, which would be the first World Cup held in an Arab country.

A prominent Al-Jazeera journalist was being held in German police custody Sunday pending a court decision on his further detention on an arrest warrant issued by his native Egypt.

In a case that prompted angry questions about press freedom and German relations with Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, television journalist Ahmed Mansour was arrested Saturday at a Berlin airport having been accused by Cairo of committing "several crimes."

Iran and Qatar should "get over their differences" and boost relations to ensure regional stability, Qatar's emir has told Iran's president as the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan gets underway.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and President Hassan Rouhani also called in a telephone conversation Thursday night for an end to violence in the region during the holy month, Iran's ISNA news agency reported Friday.

The release of the Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by jihadists last year is awaiting Qatar's payment of a ransom, which is part of the prisoner exchange deal, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted ministerial sources as saying that the release of the hostages hinged on the payment of “huge amounts of money to the terrorists as part of the deal.”

Qatar expressed "deep concern" on Wednesday over a death sentence handed down by an Egyptian court against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and called for his release.

The United States has branded the sentencing of Egypt's first democratically elected president as politically motivated.

Families of Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by the Islamic State group blocked the vital highway between Tripoli and Beirut on Tuesday, amid reports that negotiations with the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front have nearly settled on releasing several troops in a prisoner exchange.

The families blocked the key highway in both directions in the al-Qalamoun area, just outside Tripoli, declaring that the road would remain closed until 8:00 pm.

Qatar has agreed to keep up a travel ban imposed on five Taliban leaders swapped for a U.S. soldier a year ago while talks continue to hammer out their new status, a U.S. official said Monday.

"All five remain in Qatar, where they remain subject to extensive monitoring, as well as travel restrictions. We are in close contact with our Qatari counterparts on this issue," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

Qatar is suing a right-wing French politician for defaming the country "and all its citizens" after he linked the Gulf emirate to "terrorism" following the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack.

In an apparently rare legal action of a state suing an individual, Qatar has filed papers against Florian Philippot, a vice-president of the National Front, in a French court for defamation.