Tunisia reopens crossing point on border with Libya

Libyan vehicles on Saturday crossed into Tunisia's border town of Ben Gardane in the southeastern province of Medenine for the first time after the end of three-week protests that caused the closure of Libya's Ras Ajdir border point with Tunisia.

According to Tunisian security officials, the protest was ended "swiftly" and "peacefully."

They said security forces had removed the tents of protesters and managed the passage of Libyans into Ben Gardane.

A number of protesters had, however, regrouped on some crossroads and denounced the dispersal of their protest.

Earlier Saturday, the director of Libya's Ras Ajdir crossing, Mohamed Jarafa, told the Anadolu Agency that traffic had begun to flow naturally through the border point between Libya and Tunisia.

An AA correspondent on the Tunisian side of the border, meanwhile, noted that protesters curtailed the flow of vehicles until 21:30 GMT.

Earlier this month, the residents of Ben Gardane declared a general strike that led to the closure of the border crossing to demand lifting a 30 dinar (roughly $15.6) tax imposed on foreigners crossing into Tunisia from neighboring Libya.
  www.aa.com.tr
21/2/15
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