Tripoli, 23 May:
Libya temporarily closed the Tunisian border crossing at Ras Jedir early today after angry Tunisian smugglers attempted to storm . . .[restrict]the border post.
According to an Interior Ministry official, the trouble started yesterday, Tuesday, when a Tunisian from Ben Guerdane involved in smuggling fuel from Libya to Tunisia was stopped near Zuara by an armed gang of Libyans. They tried to steal his money as well as the car. He managed to escape, however. Back in Ben Guerdane, he and other smugglers first blocked the main road between the town and the border and then tried to storm their way through the border post.
On Monday evening, there were similar problems at the border when 40 trucks forced their way through in the other direction, from Libya into Tunisia. It is not clear whether the two incidents are related. [/restrict]
