Calls to Reveal Whereabouts of 100 Missing Tunisians in Libya

Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi (Getty Images)
Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi (Getty Images)
TT

Calls to Reveal Whereabouts of 100 Missing Tunisians in Libya

Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi (Getty Images)
Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi (Getty Images)

A Tunisian human rights association has called for revealing the fate and whereabouts of Tunisians stranded and missing in Libya.

Some associations and human rights organizations estimate the number of Tunisians stranded in Libya at about 100, some of whom are in prisons on terrorism charges while others are believed to be in shelters.

Head of the Rescue Association of Tunisians Trapped Abroad (RATTA) Mohamed Iqbal Ben Rejeb issued a statement demanding the formation of a joint Tunisian-Libyan committee to search for the missing Tunisians in Libya and settle issues that have been pending for years now.

This comes in line with Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi’s official three-day visit to Tunis upon President Kais Saied’s invitation.

The senior officials discussed the frozen Libyan funds in Tunis, while Tunisian officials raised the issue of security cooperation and the pursuit of terrorist organizations infiltrating across borders.

Tunis attaches great importance to security matters, especially that it has data claiming that perpetrators of some of the terrorist attacks in the country were trained in Libyan camps.

Matters linked to the stranded Tunisian journalists, Sofiene Chourabi and Nadir Ktari, have been continuously followed up, especially by active civil society organizations.

Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly announced pursuing this issue with relevant Libyan parties. However, no clear information has been given in this regard.



Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Start Attacking Israel as Early as Monday

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
TT

Blinken to G7: Iran, Hezbollah Could Start Attacking Israel as Early as Monday

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Munkhbayar Magvandorj)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 countries that Iran and Hezbollah could start attacking Israel as early as Monday, US news service Axios reported.

But Blinken, according to Axios, which cited three sources briefed on the call, said it was unclear how Iran and Hezbollah would attack and did not know the exact timing.

There are mounting fears that Israel's war against Palestinian militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, and they, together with Hezbollah, have vowed revenge.

An Israeli strike in Beirut has also killed Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah military commander.

When asked about the Axios report, the State Department referred to a readout of the call, where it said the ministers discussed "the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East."

The Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.

"The overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict," Jonathan Finer, the White House's deputy national security adviser, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program.

The US and Israel are preparing for every possibility, Finer added.
There was a "very close call" of regional conflagration in April, Finer said, when Iran launched an attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles after what it called an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Syrian capital.