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By Houda Mzioudet.
Tunis, December 27:
Border trade between Libya and Tunisia has been totally suspended for a week due . . .[restrict]to lack of security, the Tunisian Union for Industry and Commerce (UTICA) said in a statement jointly published with the Tunisian-Libyan Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
UTICA expressed its concern that this situation was detrimental to economic exchange and damaging for exporters in both countries.
The organisation urged the authorities to take the necessary measures to put an end to this situation of insecurity and for the resumption of normal trade, warning against the negative economic consequences of such a suspension.
It also urged civil society in the border regions to play a positive role in overcoming these difficulties in the “common interest of all parties and to safeguard economic relations between Tunisia and Libya.”
Early in December, the Tunisian-Libyan border crossing of Ras Jedir was closed temporarily following protests by Tunisian traders from the border town of Ben Guerdane who complained about new Libyan customs’s measures to restrict their trade.
Since then, there have been tensions between both Tunisian and Libyan authorities at the border crossing. There have also been reports of Libyan cars being attacked by Tunisians.
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