Tunisia Announces First Presidential Visit To Libya

Kais Saied is to travel to Libya for the first visit by a head of state between neighbouring countries since 2012, in a boost for its new UN-backed administration

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied is to travel to Libya on Wednesday for the first visit by a head of state between the neighbouring countries since 2012, his office announced, in a boost for its new UN-backed administration.

Saied’s visit aims to show “Tunisia’s support for the democratic process in Libya” following the swearing-in on Monday of new interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah on a pledge to reunite the divided country and lead it to December elections, the president’s office said.

The statement did not specify who Saied would meet.

Tunisia hosted UN-backed talks between representatives of Libya’s warring factions late last year that helped pave the way for the fragile breakthrough.

Before Libya’s descent into chaos following the 2011 overthrow of veteran dictator Moamer Qadhafi in a Nato-backed uprising, oil-rich Libya was a major customer for Tunisian farm produce and building materials as well as migrant labour.

The long years of conflict have resulted in prolonged border closures that have hit the volume of business, particularly in the informal trade in consumer goods that is an economic mainstay in border areas.