Tunisia to close consulate in Libya after attack

Tunisia has announced a decision to close its consulate in Libya, following an attack on the Tunisian diplomatic mission and the abduction of a number of its employees, who have now been released.

On June 12, militants stormed the Tunisian consulate in the Libyan capital city of Tripoli, kidnapping ten workers of the diplomatic mission.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche said on Friday that the consular workers “have all been freed.” They landed at Aouina military airport in Tunis on a military plane later in the day.

Referring to the abductions, Baccouche said, “After this serious incident, we have decided to close the consulate in Tripoli.”

Some reports indicated that the Libyan militia behind the attack on the Tunisian consulate demanded that Tunisia free Walid Kalib, a leading member of Libya Dawn militia who was arrested on charges of terrorism last month, in return for the release of its consular staff.

“The page of the Tunisian consulate will be turned and they will return to their families” when Kalib gets back, Jamal Zubia, a spokesman for Libya’s Tripoli-based government, said in a post on his Facebook page on June 17.

Kalib was handed over to Libya in the early hours of Friday, according to his lawyer, Wissem Saidi. However, the government in Tunis rejected any connection between the two events.

Baccouche told Tunisian radio that the Tunisian Foreign Ministry “had no link to this affair which relates to justice (ministry).”

MIS/HSN/HJL

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