Tunisian customs officials and their Libyan counterparts held a meeting in Ras Ajdair to discuss the issues of mechanisms for opening the border and procedures for facilitating traffic, while reviewing points of disagreement between the two sides that prevent the decision to open the crossing.
The meeting was attended by the Director General of Tunisian Customs, the Director General of the Border and Foreigners Police, and their counterparts from the Libyan side, in addition to a group of officials from both sides, within the framework of Tunisian-Libyan cooperation, according to what the Tunisian Customs Authority reported in a statement on Sunday.
The Customs Authority pointed out that the meeting focused on the mechanisms for reopening the Ras Jedir crossing to the movement of passengers and goods and facilitating the flow of transit in both directions, without revealing the results of this meeting, which was not the first since the crossing was closed last March.
However, Tunisian human rights activist Mustafa Abdel Kabir described the meeting as “important despite the difficulties,” revealing that it was dedicated to considering the outstanding controversial points, and exchanging views in a detailed report to the higher authorities of the two countries for a final decision, pending the ratification of the binding agreement for the reopening.
Abdel Kabir revealed on his Facebook page the source of the differences between the two sides, explaining that “the Libyan side wants to return to joint inspection and prevent some goods and cars from moving between the two countries according to special conditions.”
He said that this matter was rejected by the Tunisian side, which demanded that the work continued in the same way before the closure of the Ras Ajdair border on March 18. The two parties stressed the need to unify visions in order to reopen the border. Abdel Kabir added that the meeting was important, as coordination and consultation will continue in order to reopen it in the coming days.
