Poland Detains Lebanese Man Suspected of 'Planning Attacks'

Poland's special services said Monday they had detained a Lebanese citizen with suspected ties to the Islamic State group who allegedly planned to launch attacks in the country.

The man, whose identity was not made public, was detained on April 16 after being deemed "a real threat to Polish internal security and to our country's citizens," according to Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for Poland's special services.

The suspect "was planning to set up a network in Poland and elsewhere in the EU that would carry out terror attacks in Western European countries," Zaryn said in a statement.

He had "family ties to terrorists belonging to the so-called Islamic State who died in battle against the coalition forces in Syria and Iraq," the statement added.

The man had apparently been in frequent touch via the internet with the Islamic State and other individuals linked to the group in EU member countries while he was staying in Poland.

The individual, who is now in a detention center for foreigners in eastern Poland, is also alleged to have provided financial support to Islamic State members in Syria.