Tripoli, 24 April:
Libya and Tunisia have agreed to step up border security to counter smuggling and cross-border crime. The agreement came . . .[restrict]during a two-day visit to Tunis by Libyan Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Yusuf Mangoush
Following their talks, Tunisian Minister for Defence Abdulkarim Zbidi said that much more needed to be done to deal with smuggling of arms and other goods across the common border in order to ensure the security of the two countries and that of the wider region.
Mangoush said that Libya was keen to expand cooperation in the military field and benefit from the Tunisia army’s experience in particular in military training, health, border security and sustainable development.
Mangoush’s visit to Tunisia coincided with that of the head of US military operations in Africa (AFRICOM), General Carter Ham. While In Tunisia, Ham said the region was threatened by terrorist organisations, especially al-Qaeda, and the flood of weapons from Libya.
It is not known if the Libyan and American commanders met. [/restrict]
