JOHANNESBURG - Libya’s continued anti-smuggling efforts of its subsidised goods into its neighbouring state Tunisia is causing diplomatic tensions, the Libya Herald reported.
The Ras Ajdir border crossing between the two countries has been closed for days prompting protests and roadblocks in the Tunisian border town of Ben Guerdane against the closure and the anti-smuggling efforts.
Milad Al Hijrisi, the chairman of the Fuel and Gas Crisis Committee of the Brega Marketing Company, a wholly-owned National Oil Corporation subsidiary, asserted that Libyans were entitled to protect and secure their wealth and assets from smuggling operations and to combat the smuggling of fuel from Libyan territory which threatens the country’s economy.
Hijrisi said that Libya’s security services were determined to stamp out the phenomenon.
However, the Fuel and Gas Crisis Committee has reported that it has received death threats to its members from within Libya over the last year as its efforts have taken effect.