The commander of Ras Ajdir border "Mohammed Jarafa" has rejected the agreement reached by Libya's western municipalities and Tunisia's Ben Gardane city to resume cross-border trade between both countries.

“What has been reached between 10 municipalities in the western region and the Tunisian city of Ben Gardane is filled with indignity and humiliation towards Libyans.” Jarafa justified his rejection.

He explained that the reached agreement allows Tunisian nationals to export duty-free goods from Libya to Tunisia at a value of LYD 4.000, and fuel at a value of LYD 130, while a Libyan citizen is only allowed to export Tunisian merchandise at a value of LYD 1000, highlighting that the agreement will hurt the Libyan economy.

He also stressed that the agreement must not be accepted as the municipalities are not entitled to speak on behalf of the Libyan state.

“We will continue working with our previous cross-border trade procedures,” he confirmed.

The border between Libya and Tunisia is still open from the Libyan side, but angry residents from Ben Gardane city are blocking the road to the border from the Tunisian side in protest against Libyan authorities' crackdown of illegal trade.