The soldiers were killed while trying to detain Khaled al-Tallawi, allegedly responsible for the August 21 murder of two police officers and the son of the mayor in the northern village of Kaftoun.

Tallawi opened fire and lobbed a hand grenade after soldiers raided his home in the Beddawi area, near the northern port city of Tripoli, late on September 13.

Three soldiers were killed at the scene while another died later of his wounds.

Tallawi, who the army at the time said headed a "militant cell", was eventually shot dead.

On Friday, intelligence and army units in the Hilane-Zgharta area east of Tripoli detained a man affiliated to Tallawi's cell, the army said in a statement.

The man "is involved in the crime of killing the four soldiers," it added.

Police had already arrested a suspect in the Kaftoun murders the day after the killings, in the Beddawi camp for Palestinian refugees.