Tunisia FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: No Disputes among Neighbors on Libya

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui (C) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (R) and Algerian Sabri Boukadoum (L) before a meeting to discuss Libya in Tunis. (AFP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui (C) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (R) and Algerian Sabri Boukadoum (L) before a meeting to discuss Libya in Tunis. (AFP)
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Tunisia FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: No Disputes among Neighbors on Libya

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui (C) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (R) and Algerian Sabri Boukadoum (L) before a meeting to discuss Libya in Tunis. (AFP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui (C) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (R) and Algerian Sabri Boukadoum (L) before a meeting to discuss Libya in Tunis. (AFP)

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui revealed on Thursday that some 100,000 Libyans had fled their country to neighboring Tunisia due to fighting in Tripoli as the Libyan National Army (LNA) sought to cleanse the capital of terrorist and criminal gangs.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tunisia and its Arab partners reject the participation of militias and UN-designated terrorists in the war in Libya.

He made his remarks on the sidelines of a joint press conference in Carthage with his Egyptian and Algerian counterparts, who met to discuss the crisis in Libya.

He stressed that Tunisia, which was elected as a two-year member of the UN Security Council, will be keen on ensuring “the execution of all resolutions on Libya, including those related to a political settlement to the crisis and reaching a ceasefire.”

Moreover, Jhinaoui denied the existence of disputes between Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria on efforts to reach a political settlement to the conflict in Libya.

In a statement released overnight, the foreign ministers denounced "the continuous flow of weapons" and the "influx of foreign terrorist fighters" in Libya and ruled out the possibility of a military solution to the crisis.

They agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the region.



France: The Arrest of Writer Boualem Sansal in Algeria is ‘Unacceptable’

Renowned French Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal (AFP)
Renowned French Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal (AFP)
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France: The Arrest of Writer Boualem Sansal in Algeria is ‘Unacceptable’

Renowned French Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal (AFP)
Renowned French Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal (AFP)

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described on Wednesday the “baseless” arrest of renowned French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal in Algeria as “unacceptable”.
“Nothing in Boualem Sansal’s activities justifies the accusations that have led to his imprisonment,” Barrot told FranceInfo.

Sansal, 75, who obtained French citizenship earlier this year, was arrested this month at Algiers airport upon returning from France.
“The detention of a French writer without grounds is simply unacceptable,” the FM said.
Barrot also said state services are fully mobilised in Algiers and Paris to monitor Sansal’s situation and allow him access to consular protection.
Sensal has been questioned by Algeria’s anti-terrorism prosecutor and was placed in detention, his French lawyer, Francois Zimeray, said.
The writer was indicted Tuesday under Algeria’s Article 87 bis on charges of “undermining the integrity of the national territory,” the lawyer added.
On Friday, Algeria’s state news agency APS finally acknowledged his arrest without clarifying the circumstances.
Sansal, who has repeatedly criticized Algerian officials, was arrested on November 16 on arrival at Algiers airport.
Zimeray said that, “the deprivation of liberty of an 80-year-old writer because of his writings is a serious act.”
He added, “Whatever injuries or sensitivities are invoked, they are inseparable from the very concept of freedom, which has been hard-won in Algeria,” according to AFP.
“If there must be an investigation, it in no way justifies extending the detention of Boualem Sansal,” the lawyer said.
When questioned on Tuesday in the French National Assembly about the possibility of punishing Algerian officials in this highly sensitive issue, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Sophie Primas, said: “At this stage, I cannot tell you more because diplomacy requires action in silence, not silence itself.'"