Updated

Libya's foreign minister is asking the U.N. Security Council to lift an arms embargo so the country can fight the growing threat of the Islamic State group.

Foreign Minister Mohammed al Dairi spoke to an emergency session of the council Tuesday amid regional alarm after the Islamic State group posted a video of the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya.

He stresses that Libya is not asking for international intervention, but his country has asked neighboring Egypt to support the Libyan army.

Al Dairi says the international community has a "legal and moral responsibility to lend urgent support" and the region, including the Mediterranean, is in danger.

"If we fail to have arms provided to us, this can only play into the hands of extremists," he says.