Tunisia town shuttered after Libya closes smuggler-linked border

Tunisia town shuttered after Libya closes smuggler-linked border
A picture shows shuttered shops at the Libya market in Tunisia’s southern town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border on June 26, 2024. Commercial trade between Tunisia and Libya has been declining since the closure of the main border crossing of Ras Jedir between the two countries on March 19 following clashes between armed groups and security forces on the Libyan side, the Libyan interior ministry said. (AFP)
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Updated 27 June 2024
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Tunisia town shuttered after Libya closes smuggler-linked border

Tunisia town shuttered after Libya closes smuggler-linked border
  • The crossing has been shut since March 19, following what Libyan media said were clashes between armed groups and security forces on the Libyan side

Ben Guerdane: Months into the closure of Tunisia’s main border crossing with Libya, a haven for smugglers, shops are shuttered and unemployment has soared in the already-marginalized desert region, merchants say.
Ras Jedir, in Tunisia’s south, is a major hub of informal trade between the two North African countries.
The crossing has been shut since March 19, following what Libyan media said were clashes between armed groups and security forces on the Libyan side.
Libya’s Interior Ministry said it ordered the post’s closure “after outlaw groups attacked the post in order to create chaos.” It said the groups are involved in smuggling activities, which “they consider to be their right.”
More than three months later, Tunisian merchants in towns like Ben Guerdane, around 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the border, are suffering.
“All shops are closed,” said Abdallah Chniter, 45, whose own store is among those that went out of business.
Mounir Gzam, head of a Tunisian-Libyan business association in surrounding Medenine governate, said that since the closure of Ras Jedir, the region has experienced a “commercial stagnation affecting around 50,000 merchants and their families carrying out activities linked to the border post.”
Now, he said, “they are unemployed.”
Gzam called the crossing “the beating heart and lifeline” of the struggling region. Unemployment in southern Tunisia topped an average of 20 percent last year, compared with the national average of 15.8 percent.
Summertime tourism is also set for a blow as Libyans usually flock to Tunisia’s island of Djerba, north of Ben Guerdane, Gzam added.
Ben Guerdane hosts vast marketplaces of car and mechanical parts, household appliances and clothing, at times even supplying cities in the north.
But the most lucrative commodity is petrol, which is smuggled from Libya and sold at half the price found elsewhere in Tunisia.
Libyan authorities have many times announced the reopening of Ras Jedir, around 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Tripoli, only to have it delayed. This confusion has only worsened the dismay of the local population in Ben Guerdane.
In 2023, about 3.4 million travelers from both countries crossed Ras Jedir, according to official Tunisian figures.
While Libyans crossed mainly for tourism and treatment in private clinics and hospitals, most Tunisians traveled for trade or other work.
The commerce in Ben Guerdane often went unsupervised, without taxation and customs control. Tunisian officials ignored the unofficial cross-border trade, aware of its importance to a desert region where promised development has not materialized.
Throughout Libya, armed groups filled a security vacuum following the overthrow and death of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.
Libya is still struggling to recover from years of war that followed Qaddafi’s overthrow and is split between rival administrations — Tripoli in the west and Benghazi in the east.
The border had most recently been expected to reopen on Monday. It was delayed again when armed groups from the Libyan city of Zuwara, a few dozen kilometers east of the border, erected barricades of sand on the coastal route to protest measures announced by Libyan Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi.
“We will not leave our borders unsecured, just as we will not stand idly by in the face of trafficking and chaos,” Trabelsi said in March. He vowed to bring an end to the smugglers’ control and directed official security forces to take charge of the crossing.
Pledging not to back down “in the face of drug traffickers and smugglers,” he described the crossing as “one of the biggest smuggling and crime hotspots in the world.”
It remains unclear when the border crossing will reopen and the hardship in Ben Guerdane might ease.
“The crossing is the only source of livelihood for young people because the (Tunisian) state abandoned us,” said Chniter.
“The state must find solutions for us. Why do we depend entirely on Libya?“


Turkiye sacks 3 mayors in Kurdish majority southeast: interior ministry

Turkiye sacks 3 mayors in Kurdish majority southeast: interior ministry
Updated 39 min 51 sec ago
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Turkiye sacks 3 mayors in Kurdish majority southeast: interior ministry

Turkiye sacks 3 mayors in Kurdish majority southeast: interior ministry
  • Local governors replaced the mayors in the provincial centers of Mardin and Batman
  • All belonged to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has 57 seats in the national parliament

ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Monday sacked three mayors facing terrorism charges in the Kurdish-majority southeast and replaced them with trustees, the interior ministry said.
The mayors in the cities of Mardin and Batman as well as Halfeti — a district in the Sanliurfa province — were removed from their positions, the ministry said.
The three from the pro-Kurdish DEM party were elected in the March local elections when opposition candidates won in numerous towns and cities across Turkiye, including Istanbul.
Ahmet Turk won the vote in Mardin, while Gulistan Sonuk was mayor of Batman and Mehmet Karayilan represented Halfeti.
Their dismissal comes days after another mayor from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) party was arrested for alleged links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in an Istanbul district and replaced with a governor.
Ahmet Ozer, 64, mayor of the Istanbul district of Esenyurt, was arrested on Wednesday with the government swiftly appointing a trustee to take his place.
Both the CHP and DEM, the main pro-Kurdish party — which slammed his arrest as a “political coup” — protested against what they said was the politically-motivated detention of the mayor.
The dismissals come after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed full support for one of his political ally’s attempts to reach out to Turkiye’s Kurds, describing it as a “window of opportunity.”
The Turkish government has removed dozens of elected Kurdish mayors in the southeast and replaced them with its own trustees.


Israel officially informs UN of end to relations with Palestinian relief agency

Israel officially informs UN of end to relations with Palestinian relief agency
Updated 53 min 37 sec ago
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Israel officially informs UN of end to relations with Palestinian relief agency

Israel officially informs UN of end to relations with Palestinian relief agency
  • The Israeli parliament passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and stopping Israeli authorities from cooperating with the organization
  • The legislation has alarmed the United Nations who fear it will further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it was canceling the agreement that regulated its relations with the main UN relief organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) since 1967, the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
Last month, the Israeli parliament passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and stopping Israeli authorities from cooperating with the organization, which provides aid and education services to millions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, set up in the wake of the 1948 war that broke out at the time of the creation of the state of Israel, accusing it of anti-Israel bias and saying it perpetuates the conflict by maintaining Palestinians in a permanent refugee status.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October last year, it has also said that the organization has been deeply infiltrated by Hamas in Gaza, accusing some of its staff of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The legislation has alarmed the United Nations and some of Israel’s Western allies who fear it will further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants for a year. The ban does not refer to operations in the Palestinian territories or elsewhere.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement that despite the overwhelming evidence “we submitted to the UN highlighting how Hamas infiltrated UNRWA, the UN did nothing to address this reality.”
The legislation does not directly outlaw UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank and Gaza, both considered by international law to be outside the state of Israel but under Israeli occupation.
But it will severely impact its ability to work in those areas and there has been deep alarm among aid groups and many of Israel’s partners.
The Israeli foreign ministry said activity by other international organizations would be expanded and “preparations will be made to end the connection with UNRWA and to boost alternatives to UNRWA.”

Sudan’s army chief appoints new acting foreign minister

Sudan’s army chief appoints new acting foreign minister
Updated 04 November 2024
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Sudan’s army chief appoints new acting foreign minister

Sudan’s army chief appoints new acting foreign minister

CAIRO: Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has appointed a new acting foreign minister, following a cabinet decision issued on Sunday.
Hussein Awad Ali has been relieved of his duties, with Ali Youssef Ahmed taking his place, a statement from Burhan’s office said.


Yemen’s Houthis will keep blockade on Israeli vessels after asset sale reports

Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
Updated 03 November 2024
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Yemen’s Houthis will keep blockade on Israeli vessels after asset sale reports

Sarea said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel.
  • “Intelligence information confirms many companies operating in maritime shipping affiliated to the Israeli enemy are working to sell their assets”: Spokesperson

CAIRO: Yemen’s Houthis said on Sunday they would maintain their maritime blockade against Israeli vessels in response to “intelligence information” regarding Israeli shipping companies selling their assets to other companies.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have said they are intensifying their attacks to support Hamas and Hezbollah in their resistance against Israeli actions in the region.
“Intelligence information confirms that many companies operating in maritime shipping affiliated to the Israeli enemy are working to sell their assets and transfer their properties from shipping and maritime transport ships to other companies,” said Yahya Sarea, military spokesperson of the group.
The Houthis will not recognize any changes of ownership and warned against any collaboration with these companies, Sarea said in a televised address.
Sarea also said the Houthis will continue imposing their naval blockade on Israel and would target any ships belonging to, linked to, or heading to Israel.
He said the blockade would continue until “the aggression stops and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted and the aggression on Lebanon stops.”


Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel

Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel
Updated 03 November 2024
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Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel

Iran president says potential ceasefire ‘could affect’ response to Israel
  • Since the strikes last month, Israel has warned Iran against retaliating
  • Supreme Leader said the Islamic republic would retaliate

TEHRAN: Iran’s president said Sunday a potential ceasefire between its allies and Israel “could affect the intensity” of Tehran’s response to Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian military sites.
“If they (the Israelis) reconsider their behavior, accept a ceasefire and stop massacring the oppressed and innocent people of the region, it could affect the intensity and type of our response,” Masoud Pezeshkian said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
He added that Iran “will not leave unanswered any aggression against its sovereignty and security,” according to the news agency.
Israeli warplanes carried out the Oct. 26 strikes in what Israel said was retaliation for Tehran’s October 1 missile barrage.
Iran had in turn described that attack as a reprisal for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Since the strikes last month, Israel has warned Iran against retaliating, while Tehran vowed to respond.
On Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of the state, said the Islamic republic would retaliate.
“The enemies, both the USA and the Zionist regime, should know that they will definitely receive a tooth-breaking response to what they are doing against Iran, the Iranian nation, and the resistance front,” Khamenei said in a speech to students in Tehran.
He was referring to the alliance of Tehran-backed armed groups that include Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
After the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they “hit Iran’s defense capabilities and missile production.”
Iran’s armed forces said the attack killed four military personnel and caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems. Iranian media said a civilian was also killed.